Independent living and extra care housing

Extra care accommodation is designed for individuals with a care, support, or housing need. It allows you the opportunity to live independently while offering you access to onsite care and wellbeing 24 hours per day, seven days per week. 

Accommodation

Accommodation is provided by Southern Housing Group at Ryde Village, Ryde and Green Meadows, Freshwater. You have the option of different property agreements: tenancy, part-ownership, or sole ownership.

Features of extra care accommodation may include:

  • security of tenure
  • accommodation in self-contained apartments, with your own front door, bedroom, lounge/diner, and shower or wet room
  • onsite care and support staff 24 hours per day (including emergency response)
  • shared facilities, such as laundry and gardens
  • onsite services available, including a hair and beauty room and shop
  • an activities room, including exercise bikes and equipment
  • onsite guest rooms for friends and family
  • safe and supportive environment.

If your needs change while you are living in extra care housing, you can be re-assessed to get the right level of care you need. Contact us if you have not already had a care assessment.

What you might pay for

The cost to you will depend on the property agreement you apply for, the level of service you need, and your financial circumstances. Things you may have to pay for are:

  • rent (you may be eligible for housing benefit)
  • facility maintenance
  • care and support costs
  • general household bills
  • wellbeing service.

Wellbeing service

Care staff are responsive and onsite 24 hours per day, which means in an emergency there’s always someone there to help you with the care and support you need. There is a weekly charge per person, and it's part of your tenancy or ownership agreement. You can discuss how this can be paid with the housing provider.

How to get extra care housing

Extra care is designed for people with social care needs. You can apply through Island HomeFinder.

View and complete the extra care application forms and documents.

To be eligible to register for extra care accommodation, you must be:

  • either aged 55 years or older, or between 45 and 55 years old with a diagnosed learning disability 
  • a qualifying person as defined by the Island HomeFinder Allocation Policy.

For questions about this policy, contact us.

Independent Island Living Strategy 2023 to 2038

This strategy sets out our ambition to improve the housing offer for older people. Our first priority will always be to ensure people can access support at home. When this is no longer possible, we need to make sure we can offer alternative options. These options should meet changing needs and offer real choice.

We undertook a wide scale consultation in 2023. We heard from:

  • the public
  • professionals
  • current residents of the Island’s independent living communities
  • accommodation developers

The strategy is informed by what the consultation told us.