Disabled Londoners not getting the homes they need

Finding suitable and affordable housing is the “biggest challenge that Disabled people face in London”^[1], and a lack of accountability and monitoring by the Greater London Authority (GLA) is partly to blame.
 
The London Assembly Housing Committee has today written to the Mayor with the findings of its investigation into accessible housing in London – homes which are adapted or built to enable Disabled people or people with access needs, including older people, to live independently.

The Committee heard a number of stories of the extreme impact of the accessible housing shortage^[2], including:

• The tragic case of a Disabled Londoner who took his own life after nine months of unresolved complaints to his housing association about noise levels in his home.
• A person placed in temporary accommodation without an accessible bathroom, leaving them unable to wash themselves.
• A resident who had to wait for their partner to return home to lift them two floors because they couldn’t climb the stairs.

Despite hearing from campaigners, local authorities and housing associations how there is a shortage of affordable and accessible housing, the Committee has found that there are huge gaps in understanding of accessible housing need – for instance, how many Londoners need wheelchair adapted homes.

The committee learned that there are no London-wide figures of how many homes in London are accessible, how many of these are also affordable, nor how many homes could be retrofitted to be made accessible.

The Mayor stipulates through the London Plan that a proportion of new homes in every development must be accessible, but a lack of accurate data means he does know if these obligations are being met.
 
Recommendations in the letter include:

• The next Strategic Housing Market Assessment should place a much greater focus on accessibility. 
• The GLA should improve the accuracy of data on accessible home completions and approvals in the London Planning Datahub. 
• The GLA should take a co-production approach to developing housing policy and programmes – involving Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations in key decision-making processes on an ongoing basis. 
• The GLA should ensure a larger proportion of homes meet the wheelchair accessible standard, to avoid downstream costs associated with adaptation. 

Chair of the London Assembly Housing Committee, Zoë Garbett AM, said:

“The chronic lack of suitable accessible homes is fundamental to our housing emergency – and the Committee has heard the devastating effects it is having on many Londoners’ lives.”

“But our investigation also shows this has not been treated as a priority by the Mayor. We are in a position where we don’t know what accessible housing we need, how much we have, or how much we are building.”

“The Mayor must take immediate action to address the issues we have found, including mapping need, gathering appropriate data and involving Deaf and Disabled people throughout future decision making processes.”