Disabled people are held back from living full independent lives because housing, transport, communications’ infrastructure and neighbourhoods are not designed to meet their needs.
Radar successfully campaigned for a change to the Local Housing Allowance so that disabled people who have a live-in/sleep-in support worker/PA can claim for a second bedroom. However, this gain is being undermined by new measures being brought in, including the proposed reduction of 10% in Housing Benefit after a year on Jobseeker’s Allowance. With a general shortage of affordable and accessible housing this will hit disabled people disproportionately hard.
Radar supports ‘Lifetime Homes Standards’. Building to these standards brings significant benefits for a small additional cost – they prolong people’s ability to live independently, reduces personal costs for care and adaptation and lowers public expenditure for social and health care. Some authorities are already adopting these standards, and we are campaigning for all authorities to adopt them. To find out more about ‘Lifetime Homes Standards’, go to www.lifetimehomes.org.uk.
Links
Habinteg Housing Association is a leading provider of affordable, accessible homes and services. www.habinteg.org.uk. They run campaigns, carry out research and give advice and support.
The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) helps with vital adaptations to the homes of disabled people, and in many cases prevents them having to move into residential care with far greater costs to the taxpayer. For more information about the DFG, go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/HomeAndHousingOptions/YourHome/DG_4000642
The Government has set out their plans to reform social housing: ‘Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing?’. The PDF can be downloaded at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/socialhousingreform
