A £5.88 million grant will help build bungalows and create hundreds of new homes to help Wiltshire’s older people live independently for longer.

Part of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) grant will be used to build 29 of the 50 new bungalows for older people in rural locations and create an extra care scheme, says Wiltshire Council. 

The remaining £4.5m will be shared with housing associations to support their programmes to deliver around 200 extra care apartments across Wiltshire to help people stay living independently in their own communities for longer.

The funding will boost a wider £40m council homes programme by Wiltshire Council.

The council will work with local communities on the programme and will be responsible for creating, owning and running more affordable homes for families and elderly residents across the county.

Keith Humphries, cabinet member for housing, said: “This extra resource will help us to meet the needs of older people in the future, offering them choice and control over where they want to live as well as helping them live independently for longer in their own communities.

“We’re delighted to have this additional funding to help us deliver a programme which can mean so much to an older person who wants to stay independent.”

Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott said: “We have always said we are committed to encouraging the development of new affordable homes including supported living in rural areas.

"These latest plans underline this commitment and I’m delighted we can deliver on a key part of our vision.”

Colin Molton, the HCA’s executive director for the South and South West, said: “We know that our investment in Wiltshire will help the council to meet a real need to provide more and better homes for older people across the county.

"It’s one of a number of investments we are making across the country to provide a strong foundation to support the building of up to 165,000 new affordable homes by 2018.

“This is great news for the area and we will work closely with the council and its partners to help it to deliver homes that local people can be proud of.”

The plans are in line with the council’s commitment to encourage appropriate development of new affordable homes, including supported living in rural areas, and investment in refurbishing council housing.

Working with parish and town councils will be key to the plans and Wiltshire Council says it will meet representatives to establish whether each community could benefit from homes for older people or young families.

As well as creating new homes, the council says it will continue to invest in remodelling and refurbishing existing council homes and expand the council’s housing stock to ensure people can continue to live in their communities.