Wheelchair Accessible Housing: Waiting for Appropriate Housing in England

This report by Aspire Housing Association finds that there is a huge housing shortage for wheelchair users in England; with almost 24,000 still waiting for appropriate social or affordable housing. Part of the reason for this is that local authorities continue to give the small number of accessible properties to non-wheelchair users. In London (2008-2009), for example, around 70% of accessible properties went to non-wheelchair users. If these problems remain unresolved, Aspire estimate that it will take 6 years to meet demand, and that's not accounting for new wheelchair users coming into the system. To resolve these problems Aspire suggest that local authorities prioritise the supply of accessible housing to wheelchair users over non-wheelchair users. To make this possible they suggest that 10% of all new build properties should be wheelchair accessible by law.