Department of Health and Social Care
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
£80 million to keep older people together in a home of their own
Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis today invited local authorities to bid for £80 million of funding to build extra care housing that would allow older people and those with long-term conditions to live in a home of their own.
People who are unable to continue to live in their own homes have traditionally had their choices limited to care homes creating a number of problems including couples finding they can no longer live together, a loss of autonomy and not having their own space.
Extra Care Housing offers a real solution to these problems as it gives people a home of their own where wide ranges of care and support services are provided on site. Tenants enjoy greater privacy and independence, couples can stay together, and social and leisure opportunities can be enjoyed at the resident's convenience. In addition, homeowners may be able to keep some of the equity in their property.
Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis said:
"Extra care housing is about offering people a choice. Too often I hear of cases where a couple who have been together for over fifty years are forced apart because one requires care and has no choice but to enter residential or nursing care leaving their partner at home. I want to change that and extra care housing will give people a choice about how and where they choose to spend their later life."
Since 2004, 905 extra care housing schemes have been built or are under construction in England, providing over 37,000 homes.
The £80 million made available by the Department of Health through the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) for the development of extra care housing will encourage the continued development of this type of accommodation.
Notes to editor
1) Funding is made available to develop Extra Care Housing in
England in areas where need has been demonstrated and where it can
be shown that it will:
* Provide a significant and
demonstrable health impact for older people and other people with
disabilities and long term conditions
* Provide good value
independent housing across different tenures with access to
on-site 24 hour support
* Provides care that promotes dignity
at home
* Promote choice and control for older people and
other people with disabilities and long term conditions, and
deliver services which are personalised and focused around the
needs and aspirations of residents, and of other people who use
the services delivered on site
* Contribute to the range of
solutions which prevent unnecessary admissions into hospital or
residential care; and/or assist in reducing delayed discharges
from acute hospitals
* Promote preventative services and
well-being strategies which increase independence and delay the
need for high-dependency solutions
* Demonstrate an inclusive
approach - Extra Care Housing focuses primarily on people over 60
years of age, but bids for Extra Care Housing that will attract
younger adults with long term conditions, including learning
disabilities, physical disabilities, dementia, mental health and
other conditions are eligible for consideration
* Develop
effective local commissioning arrangements between the NHS, local
housing authorities, Supporting People teams Local Authorities
with social care services responsibilities, and partnerships with
care providers, Housing Associations and private sector and other
developers of Extra Care Housing in the interests of older people
and other people with disabilities and long term conditions
2) The grant will be allocated during 2008-2010; £40 million in 2008-2009 and £40 million in 2009-2010.
3) Local Authority Letter (LASSL(DH)(2007)2) of 10 December 2007, which sets out the specific revenue and capital grant allocations for adults' personal social services, announced that the Extra Care Housing (ECH) Grant would be allocated to ECH schemes through a bidding process.
