Community directory

Care and Repair (Watford Council)

Watford Care and Repair is a service operated by Watford Borough Council to help home owners over 60 and/or people with a disability to remain in their own homes. This may be achieved in a number of ways:

* By adapting the home with the help of a Disabled Facilities Grant, eg. adapting a bathroom by removing the bath which the person is unable to get into and installing a level access show in its place.

For all the workss under a Disabled Facilities Grant, Care and Repair works hand in hand with Herts County Council's occupational therapists, who assessthe person with the disability to see how he or she might be helped to stay in their own home and make a referral. Watford Borough Council fund the grant and so need the individual to fill out a preliminary enquiry form with an outline of the work required and details of their income and savings.

Care and Repair are able to help with all the form filling; providing a surveyor to draw up the plans needed; finding contractors to tender for the work and them to monitor what happens when the works begin.

* By helping with repairs to the home. Watford Borough Council are not required to provide grants for repair work but have decided to offer Decent Homes Assistance for people on a low income. Care and Repair will help with filling out the forms for this assistance, which may be in the form of a grant up to £3,000 or a loan on the property. There is currently a long waiting list for this type of assistance.

Watford Borough Council also has a small handyperson scheme which can help people on low income.