Habinteg helps to shape London’s future accessibility | Policy blog

Recommendations made by Habinteg and the Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE) as part of a panel reviewing the London Plan 2021 have been sent in an open letter to London’s Mayor.

The London Plan 2021 is the spatial development strategy for Greater London. It sets out a framework for how London will develop over the next 20-25 years and the Mayor’s vision for good growth.

Panel insights

In November 2023, the London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee invited Habinteg and CAE to be part of a panel providing insight into how the planning system can improve accessibility of both housing and the wider environment for Londoners, specifically disabled people.

CAE's Head of Business Development, Fara Muneer, represented Habinteg as one of several experts and stakeholders the Committee spoke to, including members of the Deaf and Blind community and wheelchair users.

The Committee heard about the barriers that disabled people continue to face within the built environment, and how that impacts their ability to participate in society. Those barriers range from obstacles on pavements, bikes and e-scooters, inaccessible street space and the shortage of accessible homes.

Fara said: “There is a lack of affordable and accessible housing in London, and we need to promote plans and policies to increase the supply of adaptable and accessible homes and consult with local communities. Having an accessible home supports independence, work, and being part of an inclusive society.”

The recommendations from the panel were put into a letter to the Mayor to ensure the next iteration of the London Plan considers the needs of all London communities.

Recommendations

The key recommendations made by the panel and CAE were:

• The establishment of a working group comprised of members from across local authorities in London, to collect and collate evidence on good practice on accessible design.
   
• The capture, and publishing, of data on:
  - a breakdown of ‘wheelchair accessible’ and ‘wheelchair adaptable’ housing being built.
  - affordable housing starts and completions by type and how many of these are wheelchair accessible.
   
• An assessment of whether there is evidence to support an increase in the 10% target for wheelchair accessible housing.
   
• Creation of a GLA training programme for Building Control Officers to ensure they are aware of how developments can comply with London Plan policies on improving accessibility for disabled people.
   
• The Mayor should mandate the creation of Local Authority Access Panels in all London boroughs to provide oversight over new planning applications. These panels should include disabled people from the local community.

Open letter

The Committee’s open letter – sent by Chairperson Sakina Sheikh - to Mayor Sadiq Khan is on page 17 of its recently released report, Shaping the future of London Plan .

Ms Sheikh wrote: "The evidence we heard highlights the need to further integrate accessibility into future planning policies and be bolder in our ambitions to design a truly accessible city.

"The Planning for London Programme needs to ensure that the 13.2% of Disabled people in London can navigate and access the city without facing obstacles or limitations."