Relax planning for multi-generational living

Planning laws should be relaxed to make it easier for families to add accommodation to their homes for elderly relatives, Relationship Foundation, a social thinktank has said. The organisation says the rising number of pensioners, falling pensions, higher child care costs and a depressed housing market mean that more people are living with relatives than ever. It is also keen to see social housing bodies build more multi-generational homes. Recent research found that 500,000 homes in Britain are occupied by several generations of the one family.