James Ridley, 74 from Durham was living in a home that was unhealthy and unsafe to live in.
The only form of heating was a coal fire and the bathroom was unusable due to its location upstairs and Mr Ridley’s mobility problems. The rest of the house was in general disrepair.
Jim had no savings and only a small pension and with over £40,000 worth of work needed, he had no way of funding it himself so he contacted his local Council to see if they could help.
Durham County Council introduced Jim to the ‘Helping Hand’ scheme, which is run by all 12 North East Council’s and helps homeowners who are struggling to carry out repairs, essential home improvements or adaptions.
Durham County Council assessed the works needed and arranged for contractors to visit Mr Ridley’s home and then referred the case to Five Lamps, the loan administrators for the Helping Hand Scheme.
Michael Sunderland, Five Lamps’ Loan Officer visited Jim and arranged to finance the works, partly by a Disabled Facilities Grant and partly by an Equity loan which is secured against the home and only repayable when the property is disposed of. This meant that Jim could have extensive work carried out to his property without having to find the money to pay the loan back monthly.
Jim said
“This scheme has helped me to stay in my home and keep my independence – a care home would have been my only other option. I had to live in a care home whilst the works were being carried out, if I had had to stay there my mental and physical health would have been affected. There must be other people like me who are in a similar situation who want to stay in their own home, and this scheme gives them that option.”
Since the start of the Helping Hand scheme, Five Lamps working in partnership with all 12 North East Councils have supported 334 homeowners with affordable loans.