Helping people live independently

New guidelines have been produced by Cheshire East Council as part of its continued pledge to support people to live independently.

The authority's Cabinet has agreed to implement a new private sector housing financial assistance policy, which sets out what sort of help the Council will offer to older people and people with disabilities to repair and adapt their homes.

The policy is relevant to owner-occupiers and landlords in private sector housing.

Housing conditions are closely linked with physical and mental health and statistics show that 45 per cent of accidents take place in the home and around 10 per cent of all falls in older people result in injury.

However, it is hoped that improving conditions, such as indoor temperatures and tackling damp, will have a positive impact on people's wellbeing.

More than £1.4m has been approved to implement the policy. This will be used to:

• Remove the most severe health and safety risks for vulnerable homeowners;


• Tackle fuel poverty;


• Enable people with disabilities to live independently; and


• Bring empty homes back into economic use and increase the supply of affordable housing.

The policy will help to reduce risk of home accidents, improve health and wellbeing, reduce fear of crime and increase opportunities to access suitable housing.

To find out more visit www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/homerepairs or call 0300 123 5017.

---

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.