Housing Corporation in talks on fund to tackle care homes crisis

The government has called on the Housing Corporation to help tackle the bed-blocking crisis in care homes.

A new fund for extra-care housing for older people could be announced early next year.

In a pioneering move, it will be administered through either the Housing Corporation or primary care trusts.

The corporation, Department of Health and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister began talks last month about the fund, which would help deliver some of the 6900 additional extra-care housing places announced by health secretary Alan Milburn in July. The Council of Mortgage Lenders and other financial institutions may be brought into talks at a later stage.

The fund would be available for both capital and revenue costs for homes. It is expected to include money from the ODPM and DoH and possibly some private-sector investment.

The corporation will make an announcement about the fund in March and will include it in its August summary of funding programmes if it is ready to go ahead.

Darshan Singh Matharoo, the corporation's assistant director of investment, said talks were at an early stage. The size of the fund,

the number of units it will cover, and the proportion of refurbishment has not yet been decided, he said. The location of the homes will also need to be worked out before the size of the fund can be estimated, he added: "Two thousand units in London would be more expensive than 2000 units in the North."

Housing providers welcomed the new fund, and were glad the DoH was looking at easing the bed-blocking crisis. John Belcher, Anchor Trust chief executive, said: "We look forward to bidding for some of these resources."

Capital funding for extra-care housing currently comes from the approved development programme, private investment, charitable funding and, in a few cases, local authority funding. Care costs are met by social services through the community care budget and support costs will come from Supporting People from April 2003.

The Housing Corporation will launch its housing strategy for older people on its website next month. The strategy adds detail to the policy published a fortnight ago.

Some residents also pay for their own care, support and rent. Community nurses who visit tenants are funded by the DoH.