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.
This consultation, which closed on 12 August 2025, sought 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 has also included 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.
Further background reading includes 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).
Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation. All comments will be taken into account when councillors meet to decide the way forward in due course.
Published: 27 May 2025