£80 million to keep older people together in a home of their own Back

At the beginning of March Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis 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.

Information taken from the Government News Network 18.01.08