Project synopsis
Mears provides specialist housing with care solutions. Under Mears’ Extra Care and Support Living programmes, we manage the build, management, maintenance and provision of care to specially adapted homes for elderly and disabled people to help them live independently for longer.
This is exemplified by our recent contract win to be the Strategic Partner to Cornwall Council for the provision of additional specialist housing, called Extra Care, to meet much needed demand across the County.
In Cornwall 25% of the population is over 65 and it is expected to rise to 29% over the next two years.
The most significant rise will be in the 75 to 84 age group and many will need care and support to live. To try to ease the pressure Cornwall Council teamed up with Mears to provide hundreds of new extra care houses across the county.
What did we do?
The aim of the scheme is to allow older people and those with disabilities to live independently in their own homes and have access to range of support, such as care and community events.
Under a 30-year arrangement and 14-year care contract, Mears will organise the build of housing for elderly people and those with special needs with access to care services. The partnership will provide 750 extra care homes over seven years and will be a mixture of affordable rented and shared ownership options.
Priority will be given to residents who already live near the schemes, the first sites have been proposed for construction in Hayle, St Austell, Newquay and Falmouth.
Projected output
The deal worth £300m will create around 700 jobs for people across Cornwall that pays Full Living Wage to those delivering care and support. The partnership will also incorporate a £90m spent on local supply chain and will support small and medium enterprises.
The units, which will include a mixture of affordable rented and shared ownership options, will be developed over a period of seven years.
This scheme will be an exemplar of Extra Care and the future of independent living. Mears has seen the benefits of such schemes firsthand, with a more stable and extended workforce, flourishing communities and better outcomes for residents.
