Other housing options

• If you are finding it hard to manage in your current house or flat you may want to consider altering it to suit your needs. See our Equipment and adaptations information section.

• If you would like information and advice on housing options for older people, Elderly Accommodation Counsel offers a self-help tool called HOOP (Housing Options for Older People).  This has been designed to help older people access information on a range of housing-related matters including:
  
  -  Accessing services to help you live safely and well at home
  -  Adapting and improving your home to make it suitable for you
  -  Exploring the options available if you wish to move
  
  Complete the online questionnaire, marking any concerns you have with your current home, and at the end you will receive personalised suggestions of local services and recommendations for further reading. If you need more support, there is the option to submit your details to EAC to ask for further advice.
  
  If you have an older relative or friend who is unable to access information online, they may wish to speak to an EAC adviser on 0800 377 7070 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday).

• Shelter gives practical housing advice and support online, in person and by phone. Expert advisers give free, confidential advice 365 days a year, helping with everything from mortgage arrears to finding a place to sleep.

• Citizens Advice offers information and advice about housing issues, your rights and responsibilities, renting or buying a home or finding somewhere to live, landlords, eviction and mortgage payments and help to avoid losing your home.

You can apply for council housing through your local council's housing department.

You will usually have to join a waiting list and you are not guaranteed to get a property.

Housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost housing for people in need of a home. Although independent they are regulated by the government and often receive public funding. Many housing associations also run shared ownership schemes to help those who cannot afford to buy a home outright.

You can apply directly to a housing association, or often through your local council. You can apply to more than one housing association at a time.

Once you apply, you will be put on a waiting list.

Housing associations normally offer housing to people most suited to that particular property. You may have to wait a long time for a suitable property to become available.

More about housing association homes.

Extra Care housing is a recent development in care for older people, offering independent living but with care and support on hand.

Extra Care housing offers individual one or two-bedroom flats, or sometimes bungalows, within a larger development. Care and support services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Extra Care also has the benefit of allowing couples – who may have very different care needs - to stay together.

The schemes are for older people, usually in their 70s and 80s. However, all schemes are different and some cater for a wider age range.

Extra Care housing can be bought or rented privately, or it may be provided by a local authority, subject to eligibility.

See our information page on Extra care housing to find out more.

Sheltered housing is mainly for older people and usually takes the form of a group of small bungalows or flats supervised by a scheme manager, who may or may not live on site, and who can give help and support in an emergency.

Sheltered housing can be bought or rented privately, or it may be provided by a local authority, subject to eligibility.

To find out more about local authority funded sheltered housing, contact your local council's housing department.

There are some ‘group living’ schemes which offer communal accommodation to small groups of people in a similar situation - a kind of house-share.

Supported Housing or Shared Living can be in a service supporting usually between 1 and 4 people, though larger services do exist. Levels of support can vary from a few hours a week to 24-hour support. Basically, it is a form of support that provides a range of options for adults with intellectual disabilities to be supported in their own home with a tenancy by a qualified contracted provider. 

These schemes are mainly for people with learning disabilities and for people with mental health problems. Schemes are run largely by voluntary organisations or housing associations. Generally, these schemes deliver the same kind of services as in sheltered housing. The only difference is that sheltered housing is normally associated with older people.

The objective is to provide a warm and supportive home, with the opportunity for individuals to live a more independent life and become part of a community.

For more information on these schemes please contact your Adult Social Care department. You can also search for supported living schemes in Hampshire in our Community Directory (look under 'Housing/Accommodation').

For those assessed as eligible by Adult Services, Shared Lives schemes provide a permanent home, a short stay, or day care in an ordinary home setting in the community. Shared Lives started as a scheme for adults with learning disabilities but is increasingly becoming an option for older people as well as those with physical disabilities and mental health conditions. Shared Lives schemes are always interested in hearing from those who would like to be a Shared Lives carer.

Hampshire County Council Shared Lives scheme
Portsmouth City Council Shared Lives scheme
Southampton City Council Shared Lives scheme

Our community directory lists organisations under the following categories: 

- Advice on housing matters

- Homelessness

- Hospices

Remember to select your location and look in both the national and local tabs.