The project has been prompted by new national required standards for accommodation in care homes, but Coventry has decided to go a step further by providing accommodation to an even better standard than the new criteria.

The council faced the choice either of upgrading its current accommodation or opting for new. They chose the latter course when it became clear that much of their existing accommodation could not physically be improved to the required standards.

For example the new standards require en suite bathrooms and larger rooms and at many of the care homes there is no space to do that.

Coventry has therefore decided to build new accommodation on the sites of the old, beginning in April by demolishing two homes, which currently house a total of sixty people. They will be absorbed into other existing care homes while their sites are redeveloped.

A third site is large enough for the existing home to stay open while the new facility is built adjacent to it. The thirty inhabitants will then move into the new accommodation and the old buildings will be demolished.

The three new homes are expected to be ready for occupancy in July 2001. The project will last for five years during which time around one dozen homes will be replaced.

It has been decided that a single person unit will have at least 48 sq metres of space, those with two bedrooms will occupy 56 sq metres. Accommodation will be self-contained with living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms to maintain privacy, dignity and independence of the occupiers.