Solihull Council has started a public consultation about the introduction of a new Housing Assistance Policy.
The new policy could give the Council more flexibility in the use of funding to pay for housing adaptations to enable children and adults with care and support needs to stay in their own home and live independently for longer.
The funding, known as the Disabled Facilities Grant, enables adaptations such as widening doors and installing ramps for wheelchair access, adapting a current bathroom or bedroom or providing the means to access a garden safely.
Homeowners, private tenants and parents/guardians of disabled children can apply for a grant if the disabled person is living in the property.
Cllr Tony Dicicco, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, comments: “I would encourage anyone with an interest in housing adaptations for people with care and support needs to share their views by responding to the consultation on the Council website.
He continues: “This proposed policy would allow the Council to use the funding in more flexible ways. For example, it would introduce new powers so we could fund adaptations beyond the current limit of £30,000 in defined circumstances, widen eligibility to include those in more difficult financial circumstances and make lower level adaptations easier such as lighting or safer property access.”
The consultation is open until Monday 30 August. Feedback from the consultation will be shared at the Council’s cabinet meeting in September to help cabinet members make a final decision about the policy.
If approved, the new policy, being developed jointly by Solihull Council and Solihull Community Housing, could come into force as soon as late autumn 2021.