Barriers at Home

This report by Inclusion London uncovers the reality of inaccessible and unaffordable housing for deaf and disabled people in London. It follows research capturing the housing experiences of deaf and disabled Londoners and the supply of accessible and affordable housing.

‘Barriers at Home’ is the first comprehensive research into key barriers to accessible and affordable housing for disabled people in London, coproduced with a Deaf & Disabled person’s organisation – DDPO. It not only documents the housing barriers faced but also what needs to change. It highlights that too many people are still being denied the right to live independently because there are not enough general needs accessible affordable homes to live in. For example, it reports that only 3% of existing homes in London are visitable. Furthermore 200,000 households in London include a Disabled person who requires adaptations for their home to be accessible.

The resultant findings and recommendations in this report are a call to action for national and London decision-makers and planners, including the GLA and local authorities, to make accessible social rent housing a priority. It calls for greater collaboration between planners and housing teams to understand the demand for accessible housing, plan for a better designed range of housing choices, look to build more accessible housing above existing targets and secure funding to both retrofit and adapt existing stock and procure new accessible homes.

The full report is available to download below. Easy Read and BSL versions along with a Summary report are also available by following the link.