Sheltered Housing Projects

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Sheltered housing is specially designed accommodation, available for rent, mainly for older people. It is also sometimes called Retirement housing.

Within the Tees Valley Housing Ltd our Sheltered Schemes are managed by our Supported Housing Team.

What does a sheltered housing scheme provide?

There are lots of variations between sheltered housing schemes. However they usually provide many of the following features:

Self-contained flats with their own bathrooms and fitted kitchens
Many estates include communal facilities such as a laundry, a communal lounge for social activities, gardens, and a guest room.
A Warden on site service
24-hour emergency call centre assistance

What do Wardens do?

This varies according to the nature of the estate/scheme and the needs of the residents. They usually:

Help newcomers to settle in and explain how everything works
Make regular contact with each resident
Deal with emergencies
Encourage social activities
Report and monitor repairs and maintenance work
Assess needs and, in consultation with residents, liaise with families, statutory, voluntary and private agencies to ensure these needs are met
Co-ordinate and give advice on services such as shopping, cleaning, cooking, personal and nursing care.

Who is eligible for sheltered housing?

Different providers and landlords set different criteria but most state that you should be over 60.
We do not directly provide care but are able to assist residents to access it via social services.

How much does it cost?

You will pay a weekly rent plus a service charge.

The service charge includes the costs of the warden, cleaning, gardening and maintenance of common areas.

You may be entitled to assistance from Housing Benefit or Income Support - you will be advised about this on application.

There is a Supporting people charge set by the Local Authority’s Supporting People team. You may be entitled to assistance with this charge- you will be advised on application.

What are the benefits of living in Tees valley’s sheltered housing?

Good quality housing
Your own front door
Security
Company of other residents
Independence
Remaining part of a local community
Peace of mind, with help on hand via the warden or 24-hour call centre in emergencies.

What should I look for in a sheltered housing scheme?

Be clear about what you want and decide which of the following factors are important to you:

Location and ease of access to shops, transport and surgeries
A design suitable for special needs (do you need a wheelchair or have sight difficulties?)
Communal facilities (are they what you want?)
Size and layout of flat (does it meet your needs?)
Warden (are they welcoming, informative?)
Cost, including the service charge
Other residents (what do they say about living there?)
Pets (do they allow pets?)

Sheltered Housing Schemes Currently Available

Tees Valley’s sheltered schemes are situated as follows (as at January 2008):

Cedar House, Foxwood Drive, Elm Tree farm, Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 0XT

Tel No: 01642 671967

Comprising of 20 one bedroom one person properties, 20 one bedroom two person properties and 2 disabled ground floor properties.
Gresley Court, Burton Terrace, Saltburn-by-the-sea, TS12 1BT

Tel No: 01287 622402

Comprising of 26 one bedroom 2 person properties.
Mascot House, 131 Westgate Road, Newcastle, NE1 4AG

Tel No: 0191 2220627

Comprising of 30 one bedroom 2 person properties. Mascot house is a Chinese sheltered Housing scheme and applicants need to be of south east Asian origin.

Application forms are available direct from each scheme or can be obtained by contacting Rivers House on 01642 261100.

Extra Care Schemes

Pennyman House is our new extra care housing scheme in North Ormesby. The scheme is ideally situated in the heart of North Ormesby, adjacent to the market square and the new medical village and with easy access to local shops, bus stops and places of worship.

Extra Care housing aims to enable older people to remain independent as long as possible by providing self contained accommodation with support, care services and community activities on site.

Pennyman House opened in summer 2007 and is available to people aged 55 or over. It has 42 apartments (11 one bed and 31 two bed) all of which are wheelchair accessible; in addition 4 apartments have been specially designed for wheelchair users. All the apartments have level access showers and are carpeted.

There are extensive communal facilities including a guest room for visitors, a restaurant where residents will be entitled to their midday meal as part of their rent, a faith room, a craft shop, hairdressing facilities and a landscaped garden.
If you need care but value your independence and privacy think about extra care housing.

Pennyman House, James St. North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, TS3 6LB

Tel No: 01642 246366

Comprising of 11 x one bed apartments and 31 x 2 bed apartments.