Smith Court is a small scheme of 6 self contained 1 bedroom flats with some shared communal and laundry facilities. Smith Court is part of an integrated Habinteg scheme of 40 mixed units.
Many disabled people do not require the level of support/care offered in expensive residential accommodation if given the opportunity of living in appropriately designed accessible accommodation.
The combination of ?accessible design and low level support? offered at Smith Court is a low cost alternative to more intensive/traditional provision. An additional cost gain is also offered in terms of ?preventative measures? with a decrease in the use of primary healthcare services and ?knock-on? effects of this on wider issues such as bed-blocking in hospitals.
Tenants living at Smith Court have all come from accommodation that limited their independence in some way either through inaccessibility of the building or having to live in shared accommodation where they did not have full choice and control in making day to day decisions about their care, support and social activities.
The accommodation at Smith Court offers tenants independent living both through the design of accommodation and also through the reassurance of having an on-site support service as well as neighbours close by.
The aims of the project are:
To examine the current position with regard to policies on independent living and the housing and support options available to disabled people;
To highlight the aims and distinctive approach of Habinteg HA, through close examination of one specific housing development (Smith Court);
To illustrate the importance and value of good housing design and the interplaybetween building design and need for support and assistance;
To show, through example, how re-modelling and upgrading traditional residential services can meet expectations of independent living;
To look at the role of low level, flexible support in preventing more intensive use of services, including community health or social care and residential care;
To identify the costs and the social and economic benefits of accessible housing with support, both to individual tenants and to public services;
To demonstrate good practice and encourage other housing providers and service commissioners to develop a range of accessible housing with support.
The combination of the low-level support and the flats? accessible design, means that Smith Court is quite unique. Therefore Habinteg produced a publication, Realities of Independent Living, that showcases it as an example of good practice in independent living.
To obtain a copy of the publication click here
