We need a long-term vision on accessible homes, not more costly short-sightedness

The National Planning Policy Framework requires that only a minimum of 40% of new homes on funded sites meet Part M standards. This is short-sighted, given the Prime Minister’s plans for a National Care Service. How can we deliver care in homes when we don’t have enough suitable housing to meet our population’s needs?

As a disabled person living with long term conditions, my parents were forced to make me homeless for me to be appropriately housed. The journey to finding a suitable home took ten years and nearly cost me my life.

Conversations around housing started when I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the age of 18.

I was told I would have to explore supported housing following discharge, but my parents and I knew it wasn’t viable for me to return to our family home. 

We were advised that the only way to prevent discharge home was for my parents to make me homeless.

I remained sectioned on a psychiatric ward for two years because a suitable home couldn’t be found for me. My mental health deteriorated; I was prescribed medications that caused muscle stiffness, weight gain, and incontinence, and thus my physical health declined.

The Building Research Establishment (opens new window) estimate the cost of poor housing to the NHS is £1.4 billion per year.  I have estimated that the two years I spent in hospital cost the NHS over £250,000.

However, the personal price I paid while waiting to be housed appropriately was a self-harm addiction, institutionalisation, learned helplessness, medical trauma and a loss of identity.

When I was finally discharged, I moved into a private rental; it did not offer the same security as social housing. Many features of the property were unsafe and limited my independence; however, we made it work because the alternative was to remain in hospital.

I lived there for 10 years until I was served a no-fault eviction notice in 2024. The subsequent homelessness process was daunting, humiliating, and frankly brutal. Once evicted, I was placed in temporary accommodation that was inaccessible and led me to have two falls. One week in a general hospital could cost (opens new window) over £3,000. This cost does not include ambulance callouts or treatment for broken bones.

An Occupational Therapy (OT) report recommended a range of straightforward, inexpensive adaptations to the temporary accommodation. Many of these recommendations were denied because temporary housing is a grey area for Disabled Facilities Grants. Bureaucracy left me in an unsafe property, even though the proposed adaptations would have benefited everyone living in the property after me.

I now live in a home that meets my needs, and the stability has given me peace, independence, hope, and happiness. Throughout my housing journey, Occupational Therapy has been invaluable, from my housing report and assessments to advocacy and support.

OT’s potential to impact housing is immeasurable, but systems and teams need to understand and value its role. It’s not too high a price to pay for people in my situation.

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Martha’s blog for the Housing LIN is released to coincide with Occupational Therapy Week 2026 (opens new window).

On the relationship between health and housing, see the Royal College of Occupational Therapy’s trio of resources to find out more: Building Health into Homes | RCOT (opens new window).

Lastly, the Housing LIN curates a dedicated section on its Design Hub webpages on Occupational Therapy input into housing design.