Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to enable disabled people to locate suitable properties in their locality.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people to live safely in accommodation suitable to their needs.

To facilitate the provision of suitable housing in England, the Government is providing £315 million over 5 years for the Care and Support Specialised Housing fund. The main aim of the fund is to support and accelerate the development of the specialised housing market for older people and disabled adults.

The Department for Communities and Local Government is providing £785 million between 2011-12 – 2014-15 for the Disabled Facilities Grant which is administered by local authorities in England and provides adaptations to the homes of disabled people to help them to live as independently as possible in their own home.

We have no plans to require local authorities to provide lists of homes suitable for disabled people. However a number of local authorities maintain 'accessible housing registers', and in London there is a city wide London Accessible Housing Register (https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/renting-home/london-accessible-housing-register).

The Government believes it is important that people who require accessible housing are given the right level of priority under a council’s housing allocation scheme, and that councils and social landlords are able to make the best use of affordable housing in their area, including accommodation which is accessible or has been adapted. We have retained the statutory ‘reasonable preference’ requirements which ensure that priority for social housing is given to those who need to move on medical and welfare grounds (including grounds relating to a disability).

Around half of all disabled people are also older people, and the Department for Communities and Local Government supports FirstStop Advice, a national information and advice service that can help older people to locate more suitable properties to move to, or to access services to help them repair, adapt or improve their current homes to make them more suitable for older age.