Just 3% of new homes granted planning approval in London last year are suitable for older or disabled people to live in, according to a new report on accessible housing in the capital.
The report by disabled people’s organisation Inclusion London also found that less than 1% of newly approved homes are designed so wheelchair users can live in them.
The low compliance rates are despite Mayor Sadiq Khan setting out that all new housing should meet one of these standards.
Inclusion London’s report, which will be published next week, sets out the housing difficulties faced by disabled people in the capital, and highlights the harm inaccessible housing causes to disabled people’s mental and physical health.
““It is a scandal that compliance with accessibility targets in London is so low,” said Tracey Lazard, CEO of Inclusion London. “It is a clear indication that it’s not a priority at all levels to build the homes disabled people need.”
She said the lack of accessible housing was due to poor monitoring, lack of resources, and the current system allowing developers to cut corners.
“Our research reveals a shocking shortage of accessible homes across all tenures in London, but it is particularly acute in the social rented sector,” she added.
Using figures from the Planning London Datahub, Inclusion London found just 3% of homes that secured planning approval in London in 2023/24 met the building regulation which ensures housing is suitable for occupation by older people, those with reduced mobility and some wheelchair users.
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Just 0.8% of newly approved homes in 2023/24 met the tougher standard of being designed for wheelchair users to live in.
A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: “It is the responsibility of local planning authorities to determine whether planning applications comply with the London Plan. We continue to work with local authorities to ensure more homes meet the needs of all Londoners.”
A ministry for housing, communities and local government spokesperson said it would be setting out its policies on accessible new-build housing shortly.
Inclusion London also sent freedom of information requests to all London councils, which the Observer extended to the whole of England. Together, these show that 55,249 people are waiting for disabled-access socially rented homes, based on figures from around half the councils in England.
Steph, who lives in west London, has multiple chronic health conditions that that she calls “dynamic disability” because they fluctuate regularly. She first applied for accessible social housing when she was 18. After a while, the council offered her temporary accommodation in a supported housing unit designed for neurodivergent young people. She was the only resident with physical disabilities.
“They were like, ‘you just do it for two years, after two years you will definitely get moved into permanent, accessible housing’,” she told the Observer.
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But her tiny flat was not wide enough for her mobility aids, and stopped her qualifying for an NHS electric wheelchair because she couldn’t use it at home. Her bathroom wasn’t step-free and was made from fibreglass, akin to an aeroplane toilet.
“In order to have a shower you had to sit on the toilet, because they couldn’t fit any seat. For 13 years it was like that. They couldn’t put any grabrails because it’s fibreglass,” she said.
On top of that, she wasn’t allowed to make any adaptations because it was classed as temporary accommodation.
She said: “Many disabled people live in temporary accommodation where adaptations aren’t permitted because it’s considered temporary, yet many of us stay there for years, making it far from temporary.”
After 13 years in temporary housing – part of 16 years spent on the waiting list for permanent housing – she was finally able to move into accessible council housing last summer, a new-build development that won an award before it even opened. But more problems have arisen since. The eco-friendly heating system takes four hours to raise the temperature by one or two degrees. Temperature limits on the bathwater stop it getting hot enough, meaning her carers have to bring water from the kitchen. There is no wifi connection.
The only lift in her building breaks down repeatedly – most recently on New Year’s Eve, leaving her stranded for 10 days while the council failed to fix it or get her out. In that time the heating also broke down, while the main automatic street-level door stopped working. After she caught an infection and an ambulance came round, she was moved into a hotel, where she is now. The council has said she can return to the lengthy housing waiting list as they no longer think her flat is suitable.
“Councils don’t realise that disabled people communicate and have safe spaces to share our experiences. We uncover many ongoing issues – it is not a one-off. These failures happen repeatedly, and promises are constantly broken.”
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