Written evidence submitted by Disability Rights UK, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People [DPH 015]

Disability Rights UK (DR UK) is a national organisation led by Disabled people. Our vision is a world where Disabled people have equal rights, opportunities, and access to power. Our work is rooted in the lived experience of Disabled people. We are a membership organisation and work closely with organisations led by Disabled people across the UK.

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) is a Disabled People's Organisation, which means it is controlled and run by disabled people only. All Executive Council members and staff positions are only available to disabled people. This is because, as an organisation, we feel it is essential for Disabled people to have our own voice and our own control of our organisation.

Introduction

There are 14 million Disabled people in the UK, and we make up a fifth of the population. We are not a homogenous group: we have different impairments, are different genders, sexual orientations, come from different backgrounds, live different lives and have different housing needs.

Access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing by 2030 is a UN Sustainable Development Goal, and our right to housing for independent living is outlined clearly in the Convention on The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD). [1] Yet the housing system in England is a dangerous mess for Disabled people, and little action has been taken over the past decade.

Whether we rent socially, privately or own our homes, Disabled people are much more likely to have unmet housing needs. The EHRC estimates that one in five Disabled people in social rented homes and one in three in private rented homes have unmet housing needs.[2] 64% of respondents to

Greater Manchester Big Disability Survey 2022 said that they were worried about their housing situation.[3]

We are waiting decades on council lists for homes that barely meet our needs, or we are stuck in inaccessible temporary accommodation for decades – prevented from making adaptations, we find social landlords are ripping our adaptions that we need, or we are stuck paying private landlords up to 50% of our income to live in hazardous homes. No matter the target - government policy has failed across the housing system, and something must change.
 

Questions 1: What can the government do to ensure disabled residents across England have access to accessible and adaptable housing?

Our response will discuss specific measures that can be taken to improve the quantity and quality of accessible and adaptable housing stock in England. However, it doesn't matter how many accessible homes we build or how many existing ones we retrofit if Disabled people can't afford to live in them. Estimates suggest that building 300,000 homes a year would only result in a 10% reduction in house prices over 20 years, which would take us back to the house prices before the pandemic.[4]

The introduction of an immediate rent freeze and, over the longer term, effective rent stabilisation measures need to be a government priority. Disabled people are suffering whilst the government fails to act to bring rent costs down - 43% of tenants said they were finding it difficult to afford the rent between February and May, the ONS, which compares with 28% of mortgage holders struggling with repayments.[5] 

Bristol University research found that Disabled people were significantly more likely to be houseless because of our income levels, and the current affordability crisis is making it impossible for Disabled people to access the housing we have a right to and need to live safely in our communities.[6]
 

As rent increases, analysis by TUC has found that in 2022, non-disabled workers earned 17.2% more than Disabled workers.[7] Scope estimates that Disabled households with at least one Disabled person faced extra costs of £975 per month.[8] We're paying too much for way too little. In June 2023, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reported that the LHA freeze, combined with an increase in private sector rents by "more than a fifth on average", had reduced the number of private rental properties affordable to households reliant on LHA to "the lowest level on record".[9]

We agree with the work done by the New Economics Foundation that an independent administrative PRS body should be established, which would design the rent stabilisation system and subsequently administer the system, collect and hold the data required, setting a Desired Rent Level, through a system of enforcement mechanisms that put the onus on landlords and the state rather than tenants to ensure rents are kept at a safe level.[10] Rent stabilisation measures have repeatedly been shown to work and, when implemented correctly, have little to no impact on housing supply. Most recently, research from Catalonia found that regulation reduced average rents paid by about 4% to 6%, with no evidence of a reduction in the supply of rental units.[11]

We support a 'double lock' on within-tenancy rents, meaning that once a tenancy has started, landlords can raise rents no faster than the rate of wage inflation or consumer price inflation, whichever is lower.  

Question 2: Does the National Planning Policy Framework ensure the Equality Act 2010 is complied with when building housing?

Under the Equality Act 2010, a landlord must not unlawfully discriminate against a person based on their protected characteristic. Clearly, something is going wrong when the Disabled population is growing, yet outside London, under a quarter (23%) of new homes due to be built by 2030 are planned to be accessible, with just 1% of homes outside London being set to be suitable for wheelchair users despite 1.2 million wheelchair users.[12]

Research by Habinteg shows that someone joining a local authority waiting list for a new-build wheelchair-accessible home could have to wait up to 47 years.[13] Further research by Habinteg and the London School of Economics has revealed the glaring financial cost of this failure of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to generate accessible and, crucially, wheelchair-accessible homes. They revealed that the additional cost of building a wheelchair user home – instead of an accessible & adaptable home- for a typical disabled adult of working age is around £22,000, with the potential ten-year financial and social benefit to the individual and the public purse being around £94,000.[14]
 

A key issue within the NPPF is the ability of developers to use the viability assessment mechanism to avoid meeting the already low targets for accessible housing provision. If the viability assessment shows that the developer will not get at least a 20% profit, Section 106 Agreements can be renegotiated to reduce costs for the housing developer.

This becomes a larger problem as local councils often do not have enough staff or skills to check whether viability assessments contain accurate information, especially regarding accessibility criteria.[15] It can be hard for them to challenge the estimated future costs, which may not be entirely accurate, because of their lack of capacity. According to the EHRC, 68% of local authorities report that developers do not always comply with accessibility requirements, yet only 3% have ever taken action.[16]

The NPPF should include a requirement for Local Planning Authorities to meet their Public Sector Equality Duty obligations under the Equality Act 2010. It must also be revised so that it explicitly requires all local plans to include a specific policy and target for new wheelchair-accessible (M4(3) homes. Revision of the NPPS must ensure that at least 10% of all newly built homes are wheelchair-accessible across all tenures, with 100% being made to M4 (2): Accessible and adaptable dwellings. Furthermore, the NPPF should be revised to require the Planning Inspectorate to reject any local plan that omits a policy statement or a target for M4(3) homes.

Question 3: Since the Government consultation 'Raising accessibility standards for new homes' (July 2022), what has been done to improve housing provisions for disabled residents in England? And has it been sufficient?

The government's planned change in building regulations (making accessible and adaptable homes the new national baseline) will increase the proportion of new homes that will be accessible and adaptable. However, delivering fully wheelchair-accessible homes is still governed by local authority planning policies, and most do not set a target for fully wheelchair-accessible homes.

The government has yet to implement the new regulatory baseline for accessible homes and ensure that all Local Authorities enforce the requirements to build to the M4(2) accessible and adaptable standard. This must be done immediately. This should happen in tandem with the government working to create a national accessible housing register, so that Disabled people across the country are aware of what homes are available to them.

The government must immediately improve our national social security system so that we can all access the homes we need. The government has failed to unfreeze local housing allowance (LHA), a crucial pillar of the social security system that Disabled People rely upon for housing costs. The decision not to increase local housing allowance from the levels set in 2020 has led to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reporting that the freeze, combined with an increase in private sector rents by "more than a fifth on average", had reduced the number of private rental properties affordable to households reliant on LHA to "the lowest level on record.[17]

The government must immediately raise LHA levels to ensure no gap between rent costs and support levels. Furthermore, the government could and should have, alongside the LHA uplift, removed the unfair bedroom tax, which was estimated to affect 420,000 people and was found by the UK Supreme Court to target Disabled people unfairly.[18] These changes that the government could have implemented since July 2022 would have improved Disabled people's access to the housing we need.

Question 4: What role should the Government, Local Authorities and developers have for ensuring the delivery of suitable housing for Disabled people?

The distribution of responsibility across government, local authorities and developers has created a broken housing system that responds only to developers' whims and large profit margins rather than the rights of Disabled people.

A key role of government is ensuring we have a credible supply of affordable homes nationwide. Yet they have not addressed the loss of council housing stock, making it impossible for us to access the stable, affordable, and secure housing we need. It is estimated that the Right to Buy policies will lead to another 60,000 council homes being lost by 2030.[19] The simplest and most effective way to stop this unacceptable loss is by abolishing Right to Buy, allowing councils to maintain adequate levels of existing housing and making building new homes much more effective.

As we've already detailed, we are not building anywhere near enough accessible or adaptable homes. The EHRC has argued that planning policy is weighted in favour of developers, as it emphasises the delivery of housing in general rather than the right kind of housing we need.[20]

Alongside the immediate implementation of the national new build accessibility standards, the government must step up and ensure that legislation targets the building of new accessible and adaptable homes and the retrofitting of existing stock to raise the minimum "accessibility floor". Central government must also work to ensure that councils are better supported and funded to develop the expertise to look at planning applications and provide detailed designs that meet the standards for accessibility that they claim. Or to check that developers built the amount of accessible housing they agreed to.

This is very important as 2018 research by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission notes, many developers do not view accessible housing as profitable. Thus, they frequently work to negotiate down the number of accessible homes they need to build.

The role of local authorities is key to ensuring social housing providers are removing barriers to access that prevent Disabled people from living in the homes we need. This includes creating local accessible housing registers and surveying social housing stock for accessibility as recommended by the Greater Manchester Disabled People’s Panel.[21] Local government must ensure that social housing providers remove the age barrier for eligibility for accessible and wheelchair-accessible homes and work with local authorities to prevent the removal of adaptions once a Disabled tenant has vacated a home.

Government, local authorities and developers also hold key responsibilities regarding the hidden crisis of building safety. Despite being recommended by the Grenfell Inquiry, the government has not implemented its recommendations for the implementation of Personal Evacuation Plans for all Disabled residents in high-rise residential buildings. It is estimated by the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) that the dangerous cladding crisis affects more than 500,000 people.[22]

40% of Disabled residents died in the Grenfell Tower fire. None of them had evacuation plans.[23] The Grenfell Inquiry concluded that there was a causal link. The Fire Safety Order 2005 requires the government to take action to ensure the safety of Disabled people in the event of fire. 

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has recommended a way of doing this through Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans, which the government refuses to do.

Disabled people must have an equal right to evacuate in good time and as safely as possible. Forcing us to wait, waste time and then be subject to an unplanned rescue is unacceptable. Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans must be put in place. The government should produce guidance that informs Local Authorities that they must identify and support Disabled people affected to be granted stays in accessible accommodation if building work requires they leave their home (either to access the home or because of the effects of the building work). The government could use its significant underspend on building safety to pay for accessible accommodation if developers are either not liable to pay or if buildings are orphaned.[24] Developers must stop blocking the creation of PEEPS, and work with residents to implement them.

Question 5: Does the Disabled Facilities Grant fully support housing adaptations?

The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) system is failing. It is not fit for purpose in its current form. The problems are wide-ranging. It is essentially a postcode lottery; an investigation by Vicky Gale found that in nine council areas in England and Wales, people had to wait on average more than a year to see an occupational therapist and complete the pre-application steps, including Southend, where the wait is more than 18 months.[25]

On top of that, 80% of local authorities in England and Wales are using discretionary powers to top up funding. The extra money a person can get varies wildly by council; some offer another £30,000, but Manchester can offer up to £70,000. In some areas, the top-up is a grant; in many, it is a loan. This inconsistency makes it incredibly difficult for Disabled people to feel confident to take the process forward, waiting years for changes to be made, and many are left without the adaptations they need to live safely in their own homes.

The system also completely ignores the needs of Disabled people in the private rented sector. 18.8% of Disabled people live in the private rented sector, according to the Office of National Statistics, yet only 6% of DFG's go to private renters.[26] There are many common barriers, including that private landlords often refuse to make adaptations, and many are unaware of their legal obligations.  This failure is incredibly costly; estimates by the Centre for Ageing Better state that whilst the average DFG cost to adapt a Category 1 home is around £7,000 (one-off payment), but the residential care costs which may be required if one's home becomes unsuitable after not being adapted are around £29,000 per year.[27]

The Disabled Facilities Grant must be improved. That means ensuring that no councils test its provision, funding and support is given to local authorities to administer it better (much more than the recent funding uplifts), and that regulations are put in place so that no landlords can refuse adaptations to homes that DFG will fund.

Question 6: How can the government ensure it provides sufficient provisions to support disabled residents who do not live in newly built homes?

We support the government taking steps to raise the "accessibility" and "adaptability" floor of England's existing housing stock by raising minimum standards. And through the introduction of an anticipatory element to housing accessibility. This means revising existing duties so that Equality Act duties are placed on Landlords to ensure the accessibility of homes, including common parts, for current and future residents, rather than a duty that individual Disabled people must enforce themselves.

The accessibility of common areas should be regularly reviewed, and adaptations made to meet the needs of current and future residents. Access questions should be anticipatory, and landlords in the private and social sectors should be expected to work with existing Disabled residents and prospective residents to provide accessible properties.

Another crucial element of improving the lives of Disabled people across England would be the general improvement of housing stock conditions through a futureproofed housing retrofit programme. Across the UK, nearly 19 million homes need upgrading as they are below the energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C, but householders do not have the necessary financial incentives and support to undertake large-scale upgrades of their homes.[28]

High energy costs are a key reason why estimates that Disabled households with at least one Disabled person faced extra costs of £975 per month.[29] The government should create and fund a national retrofit task force to achieve at least an average EPC rating of C for all homes by 2030. The task force should deliver an area-based retrofit programme in collaboration with local authorities and coordinate a large workforce's upskilling and retraining. This task force could also monitor and support the retrofitting of our homes for improved accessibility and adaptability.

Question 7: What can the government do to support disabled tenants in the private rented sector?

Having already responded to the actions the government should take on the affordability crisis in the private rented sector, we wish to respond to this question by highlighting the hazardous conditions that exist amongst our privately rented stock.

According to a recent National Audit Office report, of nearly 600,000 privately rented homes in England, about 13% have serious health hazards. This is compared to 5% in the social housing sector.[30] The NAO found that poor conditions in privately rented homes cost the NHS £340m annually.[31] Introducing the new Decent Homes Standard as part of the Renters Reform Whitepaper presents a chance to raise housing standards nationwide.

With this in mind, we want to see stricter rules on thermal comfort form a core part of any decent home's standard. The standard should require homes to reach EPC C, a more stringent regulation than the "reasonable" thermal comfort standard currently proposed. This would enable us to have warm homes where we can flourish and live safely and comfortably. 

Crucially, the decent homes standard should become a fully anticipatory duty for landlords, with councils given the powers and funding to establish efficient, knowledgeable and proactive housing enforcement teams. The lack of efficient structures has led to 90% of wheelchair users struggling to find accessible homes for private rent.[32]

We want the government to use the Decent Homes Standard to ensure that all homes in the private rented sector become at least M4 (2): Accessible and adaptable dwellings, with councils giving the resources they need to take a much more proactive role toward all elements of standards enforcement, but in particular accessibility. 

This includes that local authorities should be empowered to acquire properties from landlords who are either unable or unwilling to let their properties to required standards, be it in relation to minimum energy efficiency standards, accessibility and adaptability standards or the Decent Homes Standard (DHS).

We want the government to introduce legislation that creates a "community right to buy", which prevents landlords from selling non-compliant properties on the market, giving pre-emptive first buyer rights for social landlords and community-led housing organisations.

This would empower communities to take control of poorly maintained and empty homes. This would encourage landlords to invest in better, greener, more accessible and adaptable homes while encouraging local authorities to acquire and improve them where unmet standards exist. This mechanism would help generate more homes we need, taking the pressure off house building as the sole resolution to our current crisis. The policy is laid out in more detail in a newly released paper from the New Economics Foundation.[33]

September 2023