Sheltered Housing within the districts

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Sheltered housing is accommodation specifically designed for elderly, disabled or vulnerable people. It allows them to live independently. It usually consists of self-contained flats with communal facilities.

In most cases, it is available to people aged over 60. Sometimes, schemes may be open to those aged 55 or over.

In Babergh and Mid Suffolk, we have 21 sheltered schemes. These consist of bungalows, flats and bedsits. All schemes offer residents a safe, secure and comfortable environment, whilst retaining their own identity. 

Each scheme has a Sheltered Housing Officer (SHO) who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme. Their work includes:

• regular Heath and Safety checks in communal areas
• reporting repairs for communal areas  
• providing advice and support to tenants on available services - both from the Councils and our partners
• responding to emergencies
• carrying out welfare checks with tenants (Monday-Friday excluding Bank Holidays) 

Welfare checks from Sheltered Housing Officers (SHO) are offered daily, to check on welfare (excluding weekends and bank holidays). Subject to GDPR, SHOs also liaise with family and outside organisations to promote independent living. 

SHOs are not permitted to:

• provide nursing or day-to-day personal care
• give drugs or medicines 
• collect shopping, pensions, prescriptions or pay rent
• be responsible for tenants' valuables 

If you feel you need to find further information on very sheltered housing and support for older people, please read our pages here

Emergency support

Help in emergency situations is available for tenants 24 hours a day. There is an alarm system within each scheme that is connected to a control centre.