Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis today (Monday 21 July) announced the sites that will benefit from ??80million of Government funding to build extra care housing, enabling more older people and those with dementia and long-term conditions to live in a home of their own. He will today be presenting the successful Barnsley extra care housing scheme with a cheque for ??3.8 million together with Sir Michael Parkinson.

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.

Extra care housing gives people a home of their own where wide ranges of care and support services are provided on site. Tenants enjoy greater privacy, dignity 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 Minister Ivan Lewis said:

"I am delighted to announce these 25 successful extra care housing sites.

"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. Extra care housing will give people a choice about how and where they choose to spend their later life." The Department of Health has already allocated ??147 million to Local Authorities for extra care housing between 2004 and 2008. This further ??80 million, bringing the total investment to ??227 million, will be allocated over the next two years to the 25 successful schemes.

The 25 sites which successfully bid for a share of the ??80 million are-

-- Yorkshire & Humberside Barnsley MBC
Bethel Road Extra Care, ??3,792,249

-- West Midlands City Council
Shaftmoor Lane, Birmingham ??3,500,020

-- West Midlands Metropolitan Borough Council
Whitehouse Street, Dudley ??2,000,000

-- East Midlands City
Chellaston Village, Derby ??3,500,000

-- East Midlands Boston, Lincolnshire
Broadfield House ECH ??3,530,000

-- East Midlands City Council
Welland Court, Nottingham ??2,921,994

-- North West Darwen Borough Council
Kingsway, Blackburn with ??4,100,000

-- North West
Brookside, Lancashire ??7,325,000

-- North West Carlisle
Carlisle Extra Care Scheme, ??4,740,000

-- North West City Council
Whitebeck Court, Manchester ??6,546,000

-- North West
Newbury Court, Trafford ??1,930,298

-- North West
Mendell Lodge, Wirral ??2,729,913

-- South West County Council
Archbishop Wake, Dorset ??1,750,000

-- South West
Dunboyne, Torbay ??1,239,000

-- South West
Rutland House, Wiltshire ??1,443,000

-- London Hackney
Mount Pleasant Court, ??3,439,972

-- South East Coast Hove City Council
Vernon Gardens, Brighton & ??1,000,000

-- South Central Keynes Council
Kiln Farm Village, Milton ??3,500,000

-- South Central County Council
Brighton Hill, Hampshire ??3,184,016

-- South Central County Council
Orchard Fields, Oxfordshire ??1,350,000

-- East of England County Council
Shaftsbury Court, Essex ??5,306,000

-- North East Shields, South Tyneside
Dorset Avenue, South ??3,483,212

-- North East Scheme, Sunderland City Council
Racecourse Extra Care ??1,482,000

-- North East Borough Council
Orwell Walk, Hartlepool ??2,993,400

-- North East Council
Linskill, North Tyneside ??2,849,000

Total ??79,635,074

The schemes which had bid for funding were assessed on a number of qualities, including:

-- provision of flats with a minimum of one double bedrooms so that couples could be housed together demonstrating commitment to ensuring the dignity of their residents offering choice and putting personalisation high on their agenda
making use of Telecare, telehealth and other assistive technology to support residents to live independently in their own homes
-- helping people with dementia to remain independent for as long as possible.

To date, the Department of Health has supported the development of 72 extra care housing schemes, which are expected to provide a total of more than 4,200 separate dwellings.

This funding will support a further 25 sites and provide an extra 2,035 dwellings

In extra care housing residents have their own self-contained flats and are tenants with their own tenancy agreement. Extra Care Housing can be for rent or for sale, usually through leasehold arrangement. This provides opportunities for tenure diversification.

The grant will be allocated during 2008-2010; ??40 million in 2008-2009 and ??40 million in 2009-2010.

The sites will receive their funding in four parts, two in 2008/09 and two in 2009/2010, as they reach the milestones set out in the Department of Health Extra Care Housing Fund Bidding Guidance 2008-2010 published in February this year

Department of Health
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