Mind the step: an estimation of housing need among wheelchair users in England ‐ a summary

Wheelchair users face particular design and accessibility barriers, both in and around the home and in the wider environment. The majority of homes in England (84%) do not allow someone using a wheelchair to get to and through the front door without difficulty, and only 0.5% of homes are reported to be ‘accessible and adaptable’. Habinteg Housing Association and London South Bank University have undertaken secondary research that presents national and regional estimates of housing need among wheelchair users in England and shows how these figures can be used to produce similar estimates at local authority level. There are three solutions to under‐provision, which should be strategically interlinked: development of new wheelchair standard homes (of all sizes) for both owner‐occupiers and tenants, support for home adaptations across tenures, and more efficient allocation, within social housing, of existing accessible and adaptable homes. This article refers to some of the key issues, results, conclusions and recommendations of the main research report.