Our innovative relocatable social housing development in Wareham will start to welcome its first residents next week.
Eighteen units of relocatable, modular accommodation are now ready for people to move into on the site of the old middle school in Wareham.
The smart and compact units will offer a temporary solution to the shortage of suitable social care accommodation for people in the Purbeck area.
Thirteen of the units will become homes for people with learning disabilities and another four will be used to help people in urgent housing need. The remaining unit will offer somewhere to stay so that a care manager can always be present on the site.
The development, named Red Oak Court, is being delivered in partnership with East Boro Housing Trust, who will provide housing management and maintenance services to the site, and the award–winning charity Community Integrated Care, who will care for people living there.
Argenti, Dorset Council’s care technology provider will also play an active role in supporting the individual care needs of people living at Red Oak Court to help them live safely and independently as possible.
The project is part of our Building Better Lives programme which aims to bring joined-up health, care and housing facilities to Purbeck and other locations in Dorset and meet the growing need for care and support services for adults.
Graham Carr-Jones, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Dorset Council said:
“I’m delighted the development is complete and local people with a real and urgent need to find accommodation will soon start moving in and making themselves at home.
“The relocatable units allow us to make great use of the old middle school site while we work to bring forward plans for permanent housing, health and care facilities on the same site.
“Once we have a permanent housing solution for Purbeck, we will be able to move the units to other areas in Dorset where we know there is a need.”
Cllr Laura Miller, Dorset Council Portfolio for Adult Social Care and Health said:
“The Building Better Lives project has the potential to do so much good for Dorset and this is the very first phase of us working together with health services and bringing a really integrated approach to provide housing, extra care and temporary accommodation for local people.
“This Wareham site is a fantastic use of land and the units are just incredible. They are going to give so many people a great chance to start out on their own.”
Marc Brodie, Managing Director at Community Integrated Care said:
“As a care provider, we exist to deliver world-class support so that people with care needs can live the best lives possible. For the people we support this accommodation will give them much needed independence and enable them to be a greater part of their local community.
“The plans for the Building Better Lives project are really exciting and we look forward to working with our partners and the people we support to develop permanent housing solutions locally.”
Kevin Hodder, Chief Executive of East Boro Housing Trust said:
“East Boro is extremely pleased to work in partnership on this excellent project developed by Dorset Council. We are looking forward to helping the future tenants to move into their new homes and settle into the community.
“The Building Better Lives Programme is truly providing homes and opportunities for individuals that just would not be there if Dorset Council and the local Health Services had not set up the project.
“It is an exciting time for the soon to be tenants and the East Boro Team are looking forward to helping Red Oak Court establish itself as a popular and successful housing scheme.”
Robert Turnbull, Argenti Dorset Programme Director and Care Technology Specialist at PA Consulting said:
“It is tremendously exciting to be working with Dorset Council to help people live safe and independent lives.
“The PA Consulting led Argenti service has an unrivalled experience, expertise and track record for delivering better outcomes for people, enabled through care technology.
“We are looking forward to seeing the positive impact that care technology will make for the residents of Red Oak Court.”
Next steps
The first residents will start to move into the development from week commencing Monday 3 August.
Find more information about the Building Better Lives programme
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