Slater Court, Ellon

Question 1: you would think that with a reduction in carers the demand for Sheltered Housing would increase or perhaps demand for Very Sheltered Housing (VSH)? 

Answer 1: Sheltered Housing Schemes in Aberdeenshire are assets of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) with all services funded through rent paid by Aberdeenshire Council tenants. No contribution is received from the wider Council or from Government or from Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care (H&SC) budget. The Council’s primary responsibilities are towards its tenants and to ensure the (HRA) is managed achieving best value for all tenants. All care and support provision which includes VSH, are Aberdeenshire H&SC responsibility and they receive money for there services, it is not housings responsibility to provide care services.

Question 2: I am surprised to hear there are over 100 empty properties in Sheltered Housing why is this and what are you doing to advertise them?

Answer 2: These are all the void properties in Sheltered Housing across Aberdeenshire, some of these are in locations where the scheme is low demand, and there are no applicants who want to move into them. Some of the reasons for low demand are due to the rural nature of the scheme and lack of local services available e.g. shops, no public transport. Some low demand are due to the nature of the property e.g. bedsit or small flat. The current choice based letting system will be advertising current properties, so people can bid for them. If they have been advertised and there is still no interest in some locations we have worked with community council's to advertise these properties, there are posters places in communities, and the Options and Homelessness team (who manage applications/allocations) will contact individuals on the waiting list to ask them if they want to take a property that is low demand.