ELDERLY and disabled people in Kirklees are set to benefit from a £129,000 cash injection.
Under the New Deal for Older People the Government is providing funding for home adaptations so older people can live in their own homes for longer, and backing innovative schemes that offer elderly people the assistance they need to live independently.
The £129,000 increase takes Kirklees Council’s grant to £1.2 million for 2011/2012.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Communities Minister Andrew Stunell called on councils to use every opportunity under the New Deal for Older People to give elderly people more choice and control over where they live, so they are not pressured to sell their home or move into residential care.
Mr Shapps said councils should learn from the Government-backed FreeSpace project piloted in London where elderly homeowners will be helped to downsize to rented accommodation that better suits their needs, but without requiring them to sell their home.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps said:
“For too long the housing needs of the elderly have been neglected.
“Older people who should be enjoying their homes have watched helplessly as their properties have become prisons, and many have been forced to sell.”
