The Project 120  

Tower Hamlets Council and its partners are committed to providing good quality homes to as many of the Boroughs eligible residents as possible.

We recognise that many families have particular needs that make it difficult for them to live comfortably in their current property, and they require a wheelchair home that is more suited to their family’s specific needs.

We will work with these families and our developing partners in the Borough, to provide a suitable home that we hope will meet their needs and one that they will be happy to live in.

How we intend to do this:-

Who can be included on the Project? 

If you or a member of your household have severe mobility problem and are eligible to join the housing register, the council’s Housing Options service will carry out a medical assessment to establish if you need a wheelchair home.

If the Health Advisor, usually an Occupational Therapist, recommend that your household needs to be rehoused to a wheelchair home your application will be included on the Project. You will receive a letter from the Project Officer to confirm this, the officer will work closely with you to find a housing solution that meets your requirements.

Who will provide the property?

The Council will work with you and our development partners in the Borough to identify a new build home for your family that will be adapted to meet your specific needs or a vacant home that can be adapted for your specific requirement. Our development partners are Housing Associations (social housing provider) and private housing developers. Your new home could be provided by either one of them or the Council.

What Type of property am I likely to be offered?

We know that many families in the Borough would prefer to live in a house or a ground floor property. However, the Borough does not have the land space available to provide houses for all the families that would like to have one. Most of the wheelchair adapted properties are above the ground floor often because of design restrictions that may affect the whole scheme. Therefore, in order to meet the high demand for family sized properties you are more than likely to be offered a flat or a maisonette which is not on the ground floor. Where such offers apply, the block you will be offered will have more than one lift.  An Occupational Therapist will work with you and the developer to ensure the property is suitable and fitted with the aids and adaptations your family require.

Will I get a parking space?

Some schemes have sufficient surrounding land to enable a parking space to be allocated to the disabled units. Where this is not possible, but you’ve had an on-street permit for 1 year or more AND you are moving to a larger home with 3 or more bedrooms, you will be allowed to take your parking permit with you. This is called the Permit Transfer Scheme and you can read full details of it on the Council’s website here.

If you have a disabled blue badge you would normally be allowed to obtain a resident parking permit.

If you have an estate permit you will have to speak to the new landlord to find out if it is possible to get an estate permit where you will be moving to. You could also check with other social housing providers or the Council, if you could register your interest for an estate permit with them, if any are available near your new home. 

Will the property have gas installed?

Not all the homes we have available will have gas installed. This does not mean it will be expensive for you to live in. Strict Building Regulations ensure new properties are now very well insulated which helps to reduce the amount you are likely to spend on heating the property. In many instances you will be able to control the amount of energy used in your home from within it, and you will be given advice on how the system works and the most economical way to use it by your landlord.

Will the offer be in an area I have chosen?

An Officer from the Council will visit you to discuss where you would like to live in the Borough and your family’s circumstances. We will do our best to offer you a property in an area you would like to live in but it cannot be guaranteed. This is because we can only make you an offer:-

  • Where a property becomes available that meets your family’s needs.

Please REMEMBER - the more flexible you are prepared to be with the property location, type and floor level, the more likely you are to receive an offer.

  • If we consider you can afford to live in it.

What if the rent is too high on the property I have been offered?

Central Government changes to the way rent is charged in social housing means most of the new homes will be charged at what is called an “affordable rent”. This will often be more than you are currently paying. We will talk to you about the rent levels of any property identified for you to ensure accepting the property would not create financial hardship for you and your family.

When am I likely to move?

The Council will look at what properties are likely to be built over the next 2-3 years, which developers are going to build them and where they will be.  We will explore whether any one of them may be suitable for your family. We will then speak to you as early as possible in the design stage to find out if you are interested in the property and how it might be adapted to suit your family. We will show you the plans and provide as much information as we can to help you make an early decision about whether you want the property built or modified for your family.

If you agree, you will receive an offer letter from the Council that you will be asked to sign to accept the property when it is finished. We will keep you informed about the progress of the building work but some schemes may take a few years to build. As soon as we are able to do so we will arrange for you to have a look inside it with an Occupational Therapist.

Although you will be asked whether you want to accept the property without having seen it first, please remember all the fixtures and fittings included are specific to your family so if you sign the Offer Acceptance Letter, you will be expected to take the property when it is completed and ready for you to move in.

If you do not accept the property at the end of the process, your application for rehousing may be placed at the bottom of the list for one year.