Caerphilly council to reform home repair support scheme

Caerphilly Council is planning to reform the way it supports people to repair, maintain or adapt their homes.
The local authority offers help to private owners – including private sector landlords and tenants – with property maintenance and improvement in cases where people don’t have the necessary resources to pay themselves.
This mainly grant-based scheme is now likely to become a “more sustainable” repayable loan policy because the council’s ability to keep up current levels of support is “severely compromised by a diminishing capital funding situation”.
Council officers have warned the current policy is no longer “affordable or deliverable”.
The local authority has proposed removing several types of funding, including so-called Home Repair Grants and Conversion Grants.
In both those cases, the support on offer will be replaced by repayable loans.
The council is also planning to continue adapting homes of people with disabilities on a means-tested basis.
Caerphilly Council’s cabinet is expected to approve the decisions in early April. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​