Older persons’ accommodation review – Phase 1

We are reviewing the Sheltered Plus housing service to ensure it remains sustainable, fair and meets the evolving needs of tenants.

Sheltered Plus was introduced in 2018 with enhanced services like night reassurance and weekday laundry, which are not eligible for Housing Benefit and currently subsidised through the Housing Revenue Account.

A cross-party working group has now recommended a move towards a standardised, landlord-only housing management service to make the best use of limited resources and improve equity across all schemes.

We are now seeking your views on:

• how you feel about the proposed move to a landlord-only housing service
• your views on ending the night reassurance and laundry services
• whether you would be willing to pay more if current services continued
• what additional support would be needed if services are removed
• any other suggestions on how we can support residents during any changes

Extensive engagement is already under way, including one-to-one meetings with residents and families, discussions with the Resident Engagement Panel and Independent Living Forum and input from local advocacy groups to ensure all views are heard.

This feedback will directly inform any future decisions.

Have your say

Give us your views by completing our questionnaire by 5pm on Tuesday 12th August 2025.

Alternatively, you can email your comments to consultations@canterbury.gov.uk or write to Consultations Team, Canterbury City Council, 14 Rose Lane, Canterbury, CT1 2UR.

Paper copies of the questionnaire are available on request. If you need a paper copy, please contact Victoria Asimaki, Principal Policy Officer (Engagement) at consultations@canterbury.gov.uk.

If you would like to see what questions you will be asked before you start filling in the survey, you can see a list of the questions.

You can read the Equality Impact Assessment and the Climate Change Impact Assessment in the report that was presented to Overview Committee on Thursday 22 May (scroll down to appendix 2 and appendix 1 respectively).

Published: 27 May 2025