Disabled people who need financial help buying a home better suited to their needs could benefit from a new grant set to be offered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
For nearly a decade the authority has been helping to improve living conditions in the city with its Housing Renewal Assistance Policy. Cabinet members are expected to approve an updated version covering the next three years when they meet on 30 August.
The proposed framework includes a discretionary grant for disabled people whose homes don’t meet their needs and can’t be altered, or would cost too much to adapt.
One of the city council’s priorities under its guiding ‘Mandate for Change’ is to promote healthy and independent living in Stoke-on-Trent, which includes improving housing conditions in the private sector.
The new policy’s main aim is to continue helping elderly, vulnerable and disadvantaged people living in privately-owned properties to repair and maintain them. It also aims to: reduce the number of private sector properties in poor condition; reduce the number of private sector residents living in fuel poverty; bring back into use long-term empty properties.
Councillor Janine Bridges, whose Cabinet responsibilities include housing and neighbourhoods, said: “Many of the city’s privately-owned homes are in a poor condition, with obvious health implications for the people who live in them - many of them already vulnerable.
“We want to encourage homeowners and landlords to invest in their properties. Working closely with our partner agencies,
we also want to provide value-for-money, appropriate help to our most vulnerable residents and, ideally, help them to stay
in their own homes, leading healthy and independent lives.
“The introduction of the discretionary relocation grant for disabled people will give more flexibility and choice to
those who qualify, and enable the city council to help meet their needs more effectively. I’m very pleased that this
is now included in our updated policy.”