failing big time
The UK government is failing disabled people in the housing market through weak planning policies, a chronic shortage of accessible new builds, and underfunded adaptation grants. Key issues include low mandatory building targets, prolonged waiting lists for social homes, and a lack of local authority data.
Planning Policy and Building Standards
- Low mandatory targets… Proposed baseline expectations require only 40% of new homes to meet accessible and adaptable standards, leaving 60% free to be built inaccessible.
- Missing wheelchair quotas… National planning frameworks fail to mandate local targets for full wheelchair-accessible homes (M4(3) standard), leaving many local plans with zero provision.
- Broken promises… Years of delays and unfulfilled government commitments have left hundreds of thousands waiting for suitable properties.
Social and Private Housing Shortages
- Decades-long waiting lists… Disabled people face waits of up to 47 years for a newly built wheelchair-accessible social home in some areas.
- Unsuitable existing stock… Around 1 in 5 disabled people in social housing live in homes that don’t fit their physical needs.
- Private rental barriers… Private landlords frequently refuse reasonable adjustments, and real-time accessibility data for private lets is almost non-existent.
Support and Funding Deficits
- Real-terms grant cuts… Funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant has faced real-terms freezes and cuts, failing to match inflation or rising demand.
- Poor local data… The vast majority of local councils admit they lack proper data to measure and plan for the accessibility needs of their disabled residents.
