Habinteg and Equality and Human Rights Commission release free accessible housing toolkits. | Policy blog

In 2016 The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a formal inquiry on housing for disabled people to uncover the true scale of the accessible housing crisis in Britain. The resulting report found that local authorities are not building enough accessible homes to meet demand.

In order to move towards the resolution of this issue, the Commission engaged several organisations to create toolkits to assist local government improve the delivery of housing and services to disabled people.

Habinteg has created a toolkit designed to help local government leaders improve the availability and management of housing for disabled people. The document offers best practise approaches and practical tools to empower local authorities to consult, provide useful adaptations, assess housing stock and build accessibility into planning frameworks.

Habinteg has also been commissioned to produce a toolkit for Scotland, which will be released in the coming months. It is designed to support elected members to make a positive impact on the housing options available to disabled people in their area. This toolkit will assist with strategic planning and scrutiny to ensure the successful delivery of accessible housing and associated services.

Both toolkits were developed with the expert knowledge of the Centre for Accessible Environments, Habinteg’s training and consultancy arm. As well as engaging the target audience in the development of the toolkit, the housing association also consulted disabled people to ensure the toolkit was reflective of the needs and challenges that real people face every day.

Sheron Carter, Habinteg’s Chief Executive said: “Our mission is not simply to provide accessible homes and environments ourselves, we want to encourage others to do the same. We are delighted to have partnered with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to produce toolkits which provide free, practical advice for councils to enable them to deliver quality housing which is inclusive for disabled people.”

You can find more information and download the toolkit in the Policy and Research area of our website.