Local Independent Councillor from Clonmel Borough District, Martin Lonergan has welcomed news from Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Damien English, TD has announced that €3,130,163 will be made available in 2018 for Housing Adaptations for Older People and People with a Disabilityliving in private houses.
Commenting on the news Cllr. Lonergan said, “This investment will facilitate changes needed to make homes suitable for a person with a physical, sensory/intellectual disability or mental health difficulty, to enable older people and people with disabilities to remain living independently in their own homes for longer and also to facilitate early return from hospital.
The Housing Adaptation Grant helps people to make changes and adaptations to their home, for example, making it wheelchair-accessible, extending it to create more space, adding a ground-floor bathroom or toilet or adding a stair-lift.”
The grants are 80% funded from the exchequer by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, with 20% funding from the relevant local authority.”
Grants of up to €30,000 are available to assist people with a disability in carrying out necessary works to make a house more suitable for their needs, up to €8,000 to assist older people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out and up to €6,000 for mobility aids to address mobility problems for a member of the household.
Concluding Cllr Lonergan added, “These grants have an immense impact on the quality of life of the many beneficiaries of the programme and play a vitally important role in helping people with a disability and people who are reaching an age in life when they are less mobile, to continue to live independently in their own homes. The grants also create employment opportunities for builders and local businesses and help reduce the dependency on our health services by supporting independent living for as long as possible.”
