2,000 flats to be built for elderly

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The Government has allocated £80 million of funding for "extra care" housing schemes aimed at enabling the elderly and those with dementia and long-term conditions to live in their own homes.

Health and Care Minister Ivan Lewis revealed where the accommodation will be built as he and Sir Michael Parkinson presented one of the selected sites, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire with a cheque for £3.8 million.

The Department of Health (DoH) said 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 tenants a home that they can rent or buy on a leasehold basis where a range of care and support services are provided on site.

The idea is that residents can enjoy greater privacy, dignity and independence, couples can stay together, and social and leisure opportunities are more easily accessible, while also giving homeowners a chance to keep some of the equity in their property.

Mr 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 50 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."

Since 2004, the DoH has allocated £147 million to local authorities for extra care housing and has supported the development of 72 schemes which are expected to provide 4,200 dwellings.

This further £79,635,074 will be given to the 25 schemes over the next two years to create 2,035 self-contained homes, the Government said.