Housing with Care Strategy approved

Article date: December 18th 2024

The Housing with Care Strategy highlights ambitions to increase a number of specialist housing options to meet residents needs in the future and work with care providers to help shape flexible care support for when people need it.

Councillor Andy Bowden, Cabinet Member for Integrated Health and Social Care, said: "The Housing with Care Strategy is all about putting our residents' future needs at the heart of our plans now so that we can expand the diverse range of housing options. We know that having the right housing to meet someone's needs and that being available within a community people already feel connected with will bring so many positives to the lives of people needing extra help. Whether that is small steps to help someone continue to live independently or a package of care that can help people make the most of their life we want to make sure that the care community across our borough is meeting the needs of everyone, no matter how complex their care needs may be."

Among the proposals in the Housing with Care Strategy are:

·       Increasing extra care schemes by two to three in the next five years, with a further three to four developed up to 2034 that can provide suitable accommodation for more than 350 more people in the borough. Developers will be encouraged to focus on areas to keep people linked to their communities in places like Thatto Heath, Haydock, Moss Bank, Newton-le-Willows and Parr.

·       An extra 10 units of supported living to be developed each year over the next 10 years with a focus on providing people with their own front door in smaller developments.

·       Working with care providers to find innovative ways to support people to live in their own homes and stay connected to their communities with decisions on where people live driven by their outcomes and wellbeing.

·       Increase high-quality community care to support adults and give flexibility to build the right care at the right time for those who need it.

There are 12 objectives as part of the strategy that help to focus on supporting people to stay connected to their communities, live more independently and focus on people's wellbeing through preventative support using things like technology so that more people can remain in their homes, which we know many in need of support and their families would prefer.

In turn this work will also lead to greater support for care providers and housing agencies so that together the whole community across the borough can benefit from the right support at the right time.