This is a major issue, as Habinteg's research has shown that 91% of homes don't provide the four main features to be considered even 'visitable. This research comes as the government delays the incoming Levelling Up bill due to a backbench rebellion over housing targets. In the summer, the government committed to increasing the accessibility standards for new build homes but there remains no progress on implementation.
BBC Freedom of Information requests to local councils across the country uncovered the failure to plan for fully accessible homes. Currently, 1.8 million Disabled people have an accessible housing need – 580,000 of whom are of working age. Disabled people living in inaccessible homes are four times more likely to be unemployed. A lack of accessible housing has serious consequences for us.
Local councils can require housebuilders to ensure a percentage of homes meet higher standards of accessibility, ensuring that bathrooms and kitchens are usable and that all rooms offer enough space for wheelchair users to move around. But as it stands, these requirements remain optional.
Mikey Erhardt, Housing Policy Lead at Disability Rights UK said:
"Yet again, another piece of research shows how the housing system is rigged against Disabled people. We have a right to a warm, affordable, accessible home. These are not luxuries but the minimum we should all expect.
We want the UK Government to tackle this crisis head-on by legally requiring local authorities to ensure that all new build homes are built to high accessibility standards with 10 per cent built to wheelchair-accessible standards (M4(3) design standard).
If the government is brave enough to take it, there is a way out of this crisis. By building more accessible, truly affordable social homes, freezing rents across the social and private rented sectors, and taking action to tackle poor quality of housing across the country - we could finally get the housing system we all deserve."
