Written evidence submitted by Mrs Sharon King [DPH 009]

I am parent and carer for a severely physically disabled teenager. We have struggled to find suitable housing that accommodates both the needs of our disabled teenager, all of the equipment that goes along with physical disability, and the needs of the whole family so I am commenting from direct experience.

Build far more wheelchair accessible homes and put covenants on them so that they are sold to people who need them. Habinteg’s recent report states that on average to build an accessible home cost only £22000 more; a DFG (disabled facilities grant) to adapt an existing building is up to £30000 and won’t cover all the work needed.

Build far more accessible and adaptable homes. Don’t build town houses, consider flats or wider houses as families with wheelchair users need lots of space (for the wheelchair,  large indoor seating, walker, specialist buggy for family outings – all items that get bigger as the young person grows). Families still need dining rooms (in guidance it suggests using dining rooms as the downstairs bedrooms) so allow space for a proper wetroom not just a cloakroom, plus a downstairs bedroom too.

Build accessible homes near special needs schools and mainstream schools that many who receive home to school transport attend to cut transport costs for local authorities. It may also cut pollution.

A DFG (disabled facilities grant) does not fully support housing adaptions. We couldn’t find a suitable family home to buy when our son grew out of the home previously adapted for him. We waited a year after moving for a wetroom, ramp to the front door and new wider door with nothing else done. That cost us just over £2000 in addition to the £30000 DFG. We had turned down the specialist toilet (£4000), saved £2000 on a changing bench (original one costed at £6000). A through floor lift was quoted as £14000 – so if a lift and specialist toilet, plus more expensive bench OT wanted as default was ordered, that would be £24000 alone before materials or labour which have both increased since our adaptions were completed.

Our son has an adapted car which is brilliant so we need space to park it; homes for disabled people need driveways for vehicles with ramps, room for therapists or others to park, and room for ramps rather than steps into the home. It is only a few pounds extra for low threshold doors so it could be a requirement that where possible all new doors have low thresholds as standard, including for renovations. Paying for the space wheelchair users need is an issue as PIP (personal independence payment) doesn’t cover the additional costs if someone is severely disabled. We are lucky that we could find the approximately £1500 a month more to keep our son; we moved from a mortgage free home with lower council tax to paying for a mortgage and higher council tax. Our council tax, after the one band reduction for disability, costs more than I receive in carers allowance a month. For those unable to afford a suitable home, there would be a risk of loved ones needing residential care at a high cost to the public purse. For those unable to to afford mortgages or rent, there is a risk that disabled family members may lose a home that has been adapted for them, leading to a need for social care.

Allow adaptions to housing association homes by default if there are no suitable local properties for families to move into. A friend says her housing association refuse adaptions even if an OT recommends them. Her child’s paediatrician recommended one of her three children needs a room of their own yet there are five people in a two bedroom home with the three children sharing. It makes life harder. Better homes lead to less stress and people are more able to manage, which can lead to fewer mental health issues and less need for social care or other public services.

Require adaptions within the private rented sector but allow landlords a say. For example, when we converted our own home, we asked to pay a little more to have a coloured, not white, front door. This was allowed but surprised the council as they normally just order white doors, which would not have been in keeping with our home.

Allow landlords to comment on tiles, internal doors and other finishes to give them the chance to have adaptions in keeping with the rest of the property. At our previous home we paid only a few pounds extra to have an internal door that matched all the others in our home. We refused a concrete ramp as they look awful and builders just used some materials to raise some of the existing paving to form a ramp. We had compliments that it didn’t look disabled – should disabled people be subject to poor design? People in wheelchairs need surroundings that are good, especially if they need to invite others over to them as so many other homes are inaccessible and friends cannot be visited.

We cannot visit others with our son so the more wheelchair accessible homes, the less isolation for those with the most severe physical disabilities. Older people will be able to remain at home and anyone with pushchairs will benefit from accessible homes. Build for the most disabled as default. Anyone could have an accident and there are already a huge number of people needing accessible homes. Councils wouldn’t need to spend so much on DFGs if OTs could recommend those in need for suitable properties with short waits.

September 2023