The Government is funding a housing design advisory service in Canterbury to encourage rebuilders and renovators to design houses to deal with future disabilities. Senior Citizens Minister Jo Goodhew and Disability Issues Minister Tariana Turia announced the service recently.
The Office for Senior Citizens and the Ministry of Health are providing $99,000 funding to Enable New Zealand for a free professional advisory service on sustainable housing design. The Enable service will help people plan for the future by utilising home designs that will be able to accommodate their changing needs over their life time. It is expected the service will be particularly useful for older people and people with disabilities.
“The Government is committed to enabling older people to remain in their own homes for as long as they wish. This is a fantastic free initiative that will be extremely beneficial to older people who are re-building or repairing their homes after the Canterbury earthquakes,” says Mrs Goodhew.
Enable advisors will provide information on housing plans designed to be made accessible in the future with little or no additional cost, as well as equipment and modification services that will allow people to remain independent in their own homes.
“Homes that are built according to universal or life-time design principles are homes that are easy to live in and to visit – whether someone has a baby in a pushchair, or has limited mobility or other disabilities. This also means that as homeowners’ needs change they can stay in their own home without the need for expensive modifications,” explains Mrs Turia.
“We encourage the people of Canterbury to contact Enable New Zealand and make use of this wonderful opportunity to get good, free information for their specific situation.”
Enable New Zealand can be contacted on 0800 ENABLE (0800 362253) for over-the-phone advice or to make an appointment to meet an advisor.
Source: New Zealand Government media release
