Sheltered and Supported Housing
The following information is available in this category:-
Community Care
Sheltered Housing is a flat or bungalow especially designed and built with the needs of elderly and vunerable people in mind.
Who can Apply for Sheltered Housing?
Any person of pensionable age who feels the need for some support. Your application will also be considered if you used to live in the Council area, or if you have relatives who currently live here. If you do not have any connection with this area, you may still register as, from time to time, it is possible to allocate sheltered housing to those who wish to live in this area.
How Do I Apply?
This can be done in person (or someone else can do it for you, like a friend or social worker) by completing an application form.
Alternatively, you may prefer to telephone direct to the Housing Options Team using the contact details below.
If you are already in the Council's housing register you can simply request a revision form and indicate on it that you are interested in being considered for sheltered housing.
What Will Happen When I Apply?
Once your application has been accepted onto our housing register, it is awarded a number of points to reflect the conditions in which you live. Points are given for factors such as medical conditions, overcrowding and lack of modern facilities, as well as length of time on the housing register. The total points score of each applicant is then used as a guide in allocating properties.
Your application for will be given every consideration and an offer of sheltered housing will be made when possible. This may not happen quickly and the Community Alarm Service may bring peace of mind to you and your family in the mean time.
For more information about Community Alarms contact Meres and Mosses Housing Association on 0800 4346289.
If I am Allocated a Sheltered Dwelling, What Then?
Any offer of accommodation will be confirmed in writing. Should you wish to view the scheme and meet the Scheme Manager, this can be easily arranged through your landlord .
Once you have signed the tenancy acceptance form you will enjoy all the rights and privileges of a Housing Association tenant.
You will also have tenant's responsibilities, paying your own rent, running your home and providing your own meals. You may be eligible for Housing Benefit to help towards your rent. Please contact the Council's Benefit Section for more details.
You are expected, with the help of your friends and relatives, to make your own arrangements for moving in, and to meet the cost of doing so - just like any other house move. You must also arrange for an electricity supply by applying in the normal way. You may be asked to move in at short notice, although your landlord wil endavour to give you as much advance notice as possible
What this means is that you will keep; and for as long as possible be encouraged to maintain, your own independence. In sheltered housing you will not be a resident in an old people's home and you will be free at all times to come and go as you please. You are simply asked to let the warden know if you intend to be away overnight or if you will not be there at the time of the normal daily rounds when the Scheme Manager calls regularly each morning.
When is the Scheme Manager on Duty?
Just like other members of staff, Scheme Manager's are allowed time off for holidays. If they are unwell it is usually possible to arrange temporary cover.
Whenever the Scheme Manager is off duty, unavailable, or away from the scheme and not being covered by a deputy, the alarm system is switched to the community alarm scheme, otherwise known as the central control office, where an operator will talk to you if you call for assistance.
Does the Scheme Manager Hold Information About Me?
Yes, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of your next-of-kin and close friends, your doctor and any relevant details of your health are kept by the Scheme Manager, and the central control office. This is a confidential record and its purpose is to enable contact to be made with the appropriate person in the event of illness or an accident, or any other problem.
What is the Scheme Manager's Role?
Scheme Manager's are practical and understanding people, sympathetic to the problems of ageing. They are carefully recruited and trained to encourage you to look after yourself and to lead an active independent life. When on duty the Scheme Manager's primary task is to respond to an emergency as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that in the event of an illness or a fall, or some other crisis, you can quickly get help.
In an emergency, it is the Scheme Manager's job to take the first action. It may be something that can easily be put right there and then; if not the Scheme Manager may have to call your relatives, your doctor; or other professional help that may be needed.
If you need home care services, meals on wheels or special household aids, the Scheme Manager will try to help you obtain them by contacting the local Social Services office for you. The duty Scheme Manager will normally call on you once a day to ensure you are alright.
If you are unwell or in need of urgent assistance when a Scheme Manager is unavailable, a person at Central Control will contact a member of your family or a friend to visit you. If it is an emergency and you are in need of urgent assistance, they will quickly arrange this.
Are There Things a Scheme Manager Does Not Do?
Scheme Managers are not employed to perform duties for which statutory or voluntary bodies exist, or which are the responsibility of relatives living nearby.
Scheme Managers are not nurses - if you need regular medical treatment your doctor can arrange for you to have visits from a Community Nurse. Neither are Scheme Manager's permitted to administer drugs and medicines. Scheme Managers are not there to do domestic chores such as cleaning, cooking, providing meals and shopping. They may help for residents to do these things for themselves, or to make arrangements. There is a strict instruction that Scheme Managers cannot look after your valuables and money.
A Scheme Manager may carry out some of these tasks on a purely temporary basis, as part of an emergency response. But he or she can only be expected to do so for a limited time until help is available from other sources. It is important to remember that generally only one Scheme Manager is on duty at any one time and there are many other people in the scheme for whom the Scheme Manager must offer a similar service.
How Do I Contact the Scheme Manager in an Emergency?
Each Sheltered scheme is equipped with a modern alarm system. All you need to do is to pull one of the special alarm cords or press the button on your pendant alarm and the Scheme Manager will speak to you. You need only to pull the cord, or press the button once and when the Scheme Manager answers you can say what is wrong from wherever you are in your bungalow or flat. If you cannot speak you can be assured the Scheme Manager will come quickly to see what has happened. The same applies if you have a mishap in one of the communal areas.
What is Contact Care?
The Council has set up an alarm system to help any elderly and disabled people within the area who feel they need to be able to contact someone quickly in an emergency.
Also anyone living in the area can have an alarm if they need one and it will be connected to contact care control where specially trained operators are on duty day and night throughout the year. There is always someone there to answer calls.
Is There a Scheme Doctor?
No. Each tenant has his or her own doctor. Of course if you are moving into the area you may have to change your present arrangements, but it is up to you which local doctors list you apply to join.
What Other Facilities are Available?
There maybe a pay-phone in the communal areas of some schemes. It is entirely up to residents whether or not they have a private telephone in their home. The tenant would be responsible for its cost.
Most schemes do not have a communal television set. However, if you have your own television you may qualify for a Concessionary Licence Fee. The Scheme Manager will advise you if this is the case.
In most schemes you will be responsible for all internal decoration and cleaning, including your windows. External decoration is the landlord's responsibility and will be done by the Registered Social Landlord on a regular programme. The landscaped areas are also cared for by The Registed Social Landlord.
Who Will Pay My Rent?
You are responsible for paying your rent, you will be advised how to pay before moving.
How Secure is my Sheltered Home?
The Housing Association maintains its sheltered accommodation to very high standards. The doors are fitted with good quality locks.
Some people like to fix additional locks or chains, but you must be aware that by doing this they may keep the Scheme Manager out in an emergency. The master key, when it has to be used, will open your door and admit the Scheme Manager, but he or she cannot get in quickly to help you if there are other locks and chains on the door and you cannot release them yourself.
The call alarm is there and should be used without hesitation if you are at all suspicious of anyone trying to gain admission to your home.
Legitimate callers and all official visitors carry official identification. You should always ask to see this and check it carefully before admitting anyone you do not know.
Remember: If in doubt - do not open your door, pull the cord!
Can I Keep a Pet?
As a general rule, permission should be sought for a pet other than a caged bird such as a budgerigar. If you have a well behaved small dog or cat you may be able to bring it with you should you move to your new home.
What Happens in the Communal Lounge?
To some extent it is up to you. Tenants use the room for meetings, clubs, social and recreational activities, or just to meet up for a cup of tea and a chat. It is up to you and your neighbours to decide what you want and to arrange it if you wish. The Scheme Manager are willing to help in this and to encourage a wide range of activities and outings.
All schemes are encouraged to invite the elderly neighbours living outside sheltered to events in the communal lounge.
Is My Dwelling Covered by Insurance?
Insurance of buildings is, of course, the responsibility of the landlord. But you are solely responsible for insuring your household contents and possessions and you are strongly advised to take out household contents and insurance.
What If I Want to Move?
Again, it is your home. Like any other tenant you can give 28 days notice to terminate your tenancy and move out if you so wish. There may be a good reason why you wish to move to another dwelling. If so the Housing Options Team will try to help you through its Housing Register, you can speak to your landlord, who will advise. However, because of difficulties of availability a swift move may prove difficult.
If you are living as a couple and one of you dies, the surviving partner will not be required to move, even if your dwelling is designed for two people. However, if the surviving partner is below pensionable age or if the accommodation is specifically designed for a disabled person and the surviving partner does not need those facilities, Your Landlord may offer suitable alternative accommodation.
What if I am Dissatisfied with the Sheltered Service?
If you are dissatisfied with the service you, should, in the first instance, talk to the Scheme Manager who may be able to put matters right there and then, if it is a more serious matter, the Officer should regularly visit each scheme. Part of her / his job is to see the scheme runs smoothly in line with the policies and you can arrange to see him or her at any time. The Scheme Manager can help you to do this.
If you are still not satisfied you can write to the landlord where you could ask for your complaint to be investigated at a senior level.
| email: | HousingOptions@northshropshiredc.gov.uk |
|---|---|
| telephone: | 01939 238520 |
| fax: | 01939 238405 |
