Chapter Two Background This chapter summarises the main points from our review of evidence (see Appendix 1 for the full review). Since the UK economy’s recovery from the global financial crisis of 2007–9, many parts of Britain have shown rapid house price inflation and significant pressure on the supply of social rented housing (Office for National Statistics, 2017; Wilcox et al., 2017). The consequences of inflation and pressure on social housing are the increasing difficulty to own a home or waiting extended periods for social housing. Under these conditions, private rental supply and concerns about the affordability of such housing have grown. Disabled people, especially those with specific accessibility requirements, have experienced challenges securing housing that meets their needs. Disabled people were less likely to own their own home in the period 2012–14 than non-disabled people (62.6% to 76.2%). People with mental health conditions continued to be far less likely to live in owner-occupied accommodation. English Housing Survey data show that 1.9 million households contained someone with a limiting disability’ who required adaptations to the home (unchanged since ‘long-term 2011–12). Scottish data on housing and disability show higher levels of social renting and overcrowding among disabled people compared with non-disabled people. There was a decrease in local authority wheelchair-adapted housing in the period 2006–15 (EHRC, 2017b). In England, evidence suggests that 9% of households have a long-term disabled member, and a fifth of these disabled members (2% of the population of the country) are living in unsuitable, mainly rented, housing. The types of adaptation needed to make housing suitable are generally small, inexpensive items like grab rails (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2017). Scottish data show younger disabled people are more likely to be missing the required adaptations to their homes than older people (Scottish Government, 2016).
Chapter Two Background This chapter summarises the main points from our review of evidence (see Appendix 1 for the full review). Since the UK economy’s recovery from the global financial crisis of 2007–9, many parts of Britain have shown rapid house price inflation and significant pressure on the supply of social rented housing (Office for National Statistics, 2017; Wilcox et al., 2017). The consequences of inflation and pressure on social housing are the increasing difficulty to own a home or waiting extended periods for social housing. Under these conditions, private rental supply and concerns about the affordability of such housing have grown. Disabled people, especially those with specific accessibility requirements, have experienced challenges securing housing that meets their needs. Disabled people were less likely to own their own home in the period 2012–14 than non-disabled people (62.6% to 76.2%). People with mental health conditions continued to be far less likely to live in owner-occupied accommodation. English Housing Survey data show that 1.9 million households contained someone with a ‘long-term limiting disability’ who required adaptations to the home (unchanged since 2011–12). Scottish data on housing and disability show higher levels of social renting and overcrowding among disabled people compared with non-disabled people. There was a decrease in local authority wheelchair-adapted housing in the period 2006–15 (EHRC, 2017b). In England, evidence suggests that 9% of households have a long-term disabled member, and a fifth of these disabled members (2% of the population of the country) are living in unsuitable, mainly rented, housing. The types of adaptation needed to make housing suitable are generally small, inexpensive items like grab rails (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2017). Scottish data show younger disabled people are more likely to be missing the required adaptations to their homes than older people (Scottish Government, 2016).