Cabinet members set to consider £2.35m investment in supported living in Swaffham

Norfolk County Council’s cabinet members are being asked to consider investing £2.35 million in new specialist housing in Swaffham.

The funds, which are part of the council’s existing supported living capital programme, would help deliver a new 16-unit scheme in Swaffham, designed for people of working age who have care and support needs to help them live independently in the community.

Cllr Alison Thomas, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: “Supported living is one of several kinds of specialist housing we need more of in Norfolk, one which allows its residents to live a healthy, independent life with the security of care and support on hand should they need it.

“We know there is demand for up to 181 units in our county, every one of which would make a real and lasting difference for a resident and their family.

“These 16 units are an important step towards meeting that demand, and I’ll be making the case to my colleagues to approve this investment and, with planning permission already secured from Breckland District Council, allowing work to start on them later this year.”

If approved, the £2.25 million would be used to support Golden Lane Housing, a charitable community benefit society and registered provider of social housing, deliver 12 apartments and four bungalows as part of a dedicated supported living development in Swaffham.

The funds are part of the £18 million capital investment in the council’s Supported Living programme, agreed by the cabinet in March 2021.

Officials say the programme aims to meet the identified demand for 181 supported living units in Norfolk, of which 31 standalone housing units are already in place, with more than 100 others in planning or pre-planning stages.

Supported living community housing, comprised of self-contained housing units, is a relatively new type of housing offer being provided by this programme in Norfolk.

Working with individuals and their families to determine what they would like from a home indicated a need for more self-contained housing options in safe areas in communities.

This is different from shared housing which is currently typical of most housing available for people with learning disabilities and/or autism in the county.

It is estimated that increasing the provision of this specialist housing to meet future demand could help Norfolk County Council’s adult social services deliver savings of around £6 million per year, allowing people to remain independent in their local communities, with all the health and wellbeing benefits this brings.

The cabinet will consider the report when it meets at 10am on Monday. You can watch the meeting, live or afterwards, and read the reports online.

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