Under 60 & Disabled? Lack of Access to Disabled Housing

Recently my disability has become worse, to the point where I am unable to manage in my current property. Myself and my home were looked over by a very helpful Occupational Therapist who asked a series of questions about how my disability affected me and my daily life. The conclusion being that my home was a right off, well for me anyway.

I'm writing this post as a way to put my thoughts to paper (so to speak) and clear out all the cluttered thoughts that have been going around in my brain. Like 'Where will I live now?' and 'Where do I even begin to look for somewhere to live which suits my needs?' However I am taking my first tentative steps into finding my own voice online after watching Nicola's wonderful and insightful vlog on her weekly life and escapades with Fibromyalgia and reading Pippa's sensible blog on how to manage life and employment with M.E.

Do I Want to Move?

At first I was apprehensive about sharing the thought of moving with my friends and family, as someone who is chronically ill with an invisible illness I have been on the receiving end of some disbelieving looks. However once I started to voice my thoughts to others I found that the person who was the most unaccepting about the move, was myself. This comes from a combination of things but namely that I was uncomfortable with acknowledging my limitations. But once my brain caught up I had overcome the first hurdle! Acceptance. 

My reasons for putting this post out there are that there must surely be other disabled people out there who are struggling to find suitable accommodation which meets their needs?!

So onto the second, however this was and has not been overcome, for the moment at least anyway. With support I reached out to housing associations, in my area, who manage a number of level properties and walk in showers.  I quickly found out that although I had been deemed a priority to move I would be in for a lengthy wait for a property which would meet my needs and keep me in the area my family and support network lived in. As my currently property is not suitable to be adapted I am looking for somewhere completely new to 'lay my hat'.

According to an article by The Guardian 300,000 disabled people are on housing registers waiting to move to find suitable homes and only 42.4% of disabled people owning their own home, compared with 53.2% of non-disabled people

So Why Isn't More Being Done?

So with such a large inequality existing why isn't more being done to address the problem? I can honestly say as a chronically ill person and disabled person I felt angry, hopeless and lonely that this was the case. Surely, as someone who is resourceful I would be able to find a solution to this problem? However as one person voicing my concerns I can be heard quietly, but as a collective of voices our concerns will be heard far louder.

If I was someone aged over 60 I could have been housed in one of the many accessible schemes for the elderly. If such provision exists for that age group why doesn't it for the younger generations?! In short the U.K Government and local authorities need to stop treating disabled people as if they are invisible and make affordable housing which meets the demands of everyone. Society should be about equality and that means allowing people to live as independently as possible in their own homes. 

Let me try and be personal with you. My circumstances are that I have mobility issues, due to a number of health conditions, and a chronic illness which means that I constantly have to pace myself. I need to think about all actions I need to carry out during a day and make sure that I plan accordingly. As you can imagine trying to perform daily tasks, such as dressing, takes up a considerable amount of energy for me. So to be able to have a shower where I can simply 'walk' in and sit down and be able to wash myself independently, which is something everyone else takes for granted, well unless you are a similar situation to myself. So to have this 'right' I need to wait months, perhaps years on end?! 

What Do We Do Whilst We Wait?

Well for anyone the prospect of moving is both exhilarating and a scary thought, however imagine you are chronically ill and disabled how dauting the prospect is?! However imagine you finally get used to the thought of moving, because you cannot live independently in your own home any longer, and then are told there is quite a lengthy wait in your area for adapted housing. How in this day and age is this acceptable? Well in short, it definitely isn't!

However I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones, I still have the use of legs intermittently with the help of a walking stick or sometimes two. It means that will the aids graciously given by the NHS I am able to manage, somewhat unpredictably. However it does mean that I regularly trip over the front door step, stumble over the uneven floors, fall on the way to the car and am unable to regularly use my mobility scooter unless someone is with me to lift it out over the step by the front door. BUT there are those out there who are wheelchair users, who do not have this luxury, some people have been unable to leave their homes, even a single room in their house for years on end, due to inaccessibility. This clearly isn't acceptable and being a prisoner in your own home must be horrific as it sounds, even if you live in a lovely home, staring at the same walls day in day out is still a prison of sorts.

To conclude think about what kind home will suit your needs, enlist the help of friends, family and a health care professional, such as an O.T, who will be able to make recommendations easier. An O.T can even put in for a grant for you to have your current home adapted to your needs! Do not feel intimidated when speaking to professionals such as Housing Officers, there are some great organisations such as your local Citizens Advice Bureau who can explain your housing rights to you. For me personally I do not want to move into private renting accommodation where the renting prices are often sky high just for a property which suits my needs, compared to that of a Housing Association. So the wait is on!

How many of you have been affected by this situation? Leave me a comment if you have :)

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Places Where You Can Find Support:

Shelter: provides free and impartial advise on your rights to accessible housing, including different categories of disabled needs and how to make sure you are on the priority register.

Gov.uk: provides information on what benefits you maybe entitled to, including grants to adapt your current home to suit your needs and Direct Payments which will support you to employ someone to help with your support needs.

Habinteg Housing: who provides accessible homes and neighbourhoods that welcome and include everyone.

The Citizens Advice Bureau: who can advice you on what your housing rights are and where to find local information and support for the area you live in.