A new housing scheme in Swansea could offer younger adults with complex physical disabilities the independent life they have been asking for.
Swansea Council social services has teamed up with its health partners to develop a tenancy project which will give physically disabled people the chance to leave residential care for a home of their own.
The Cwmfelin Care and Support scheme would enable them to move to accommodation with the layout, equipment, care and 24-hour support designed for their individual needs.
Six units including flats and bungalows are being developed as part of a new 130-home social housing scheme being built on the old Cwmfelin steelworks site.
Now agreements are being drawn up to provide 24-hour on-site personal care and tenancy support for six residents with complex physical disabilities under the age of 65 in the properties. Most will be aged between 20 and 40.
As the tenants already have funding entitlement and packages in place the aim is to provide the scheme without additional budget demands.
Swansea Council Social Services has been working with representatives from Health, Supporting People and Coastal Housing during the last two years to develop a specification for the scheme.
And on Thursday January 28 the Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve a pooled funding agreement with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board for the provision of care and support at the Cwmfelin project.
Nick Tregoning, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Services, said: “People have been telling us that they want to live as independently as possible within the community but, because they have complex disabilities, this can be both very difficult and potentially very costly to provide.
“This scheme represents a cost-effective way of providing increased independence to a group of tenants who would otherwise be in a residential or nursing home because of the services they need.
“By working together in partnership we are now on the verge of having a development in which they could live more independently, make their own decisions about how they want to live with our support and enjoy being part of their community.
“If the scheme is a success, the local authority and its partners would look to develop similar schemes elsewhere in the city.”
