Housing

A wire fence, building work and a conference centre in the background

October 4, 2018 0

Tory conference: Senior minister ignores accessible housing crisis

A senior government minister is facing criticism after ignoring the crisis in accessible housing in his speech to this week’s party conference. James Brokenshire, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, told the conference that the prime minister saw housing as the government’s “biggest domestic priority”. Although he said that “everyone deserves

Housing

A beautiful manor house set back behind a low stone wall

August 16, 2018 0

Deaths and hospital admissions follow short-notice closure of Leonard Cheshire home

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At least two disabled people have died while others have been admitted to hospital following the short-notice closure of a residential home by a disability charity. Leonard Cheshire faced allegations of “insensitive and abusive” behaviour in May over the way its executives told disabled residents that they were about to close their care home

Housing

Front entrance of civil centre of Ashford Borough Council

July 19, 2018 0

Council’s disabled facilities grant investment leads to ‘unprecedented’ improvements

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A local authority says it has achieved an “unprecedented” improvement in waiting-times for disabled people seeking grants to make their homes accessible. Ashford Borough Council in Kent decided last October to invest an extra £200,000 capital funding in the disabled facilities grant (DFG) scheme, and part-funded an occupational therapist to work in the borough

Housing

May 17, 2018 0

Disabled people face ‘hidden crisis’ in accessible housing

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Disabled people have been left “demoralised and frustrated” by the housing system and face a “chronic shortage” of accessible homes, according to a new report by the equality and human rights watchdog. More than 350,000 disabled people in England have unmet housing needs, with one-third of those in rented accommodation living in unsuitable properties,

Housing

Zara Todd giving evidence to the committee

March 22, 2018 0

Government rejects nearly all recommendations from MPs’ access inquiry

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The government has accepted just three of 23 recommendations made by a committee of MPs that were aimed at improving disabled people’s access to the built environment. The women and equalities committee concluded in its report last April that disabled people were too often finding their lives “needlessly restricted by features of the built

Housing

A sign pointing to Parliament Street and Whitehall

March 22, 2018 0

Eight years on, government announces plans to bring in access laws for tenants

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The government has finally agreed to bring into force long-awaited laws that will impose a duty on landlords to allow disabled tenants to make access improvements to the hallways, staircases and entrances of residential properties. The measures were part of Labour’s Equality Act 2010, which became law just before the 2010 general election, but

Housing

Signs taped to a front door saying Help, I Have No Food, and I Am Trapped In Here

December 14, 2017 0

Council shamed into action after ‘years of neglect and discrimination’

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A local authority has been shamed into taking action after years of alleged neglect and discrimination left a disabled activist starving, freezing, and his home so full of rubbish that firefighters said it was too dangerous to enter. Mark White has been left so desperate at the lack of support, money and food that

Housing

Sue Bott giving evidence to a parliamentary committee

November 2, 2017 0

‘Caution’ urged over government’s supported housing U-turn

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Long-term supported housing will continue to be funded through the social security system, the government has announced, while it has also scrapped plans to cap housing benefit payments, which caused huge concerns across the sector over the last two years. Former chancellor George Osborne announced two years ago in his autumn statement that no-one

Housing

April 27, 2017

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Disabled people face ‘unacceptable barriers’, and government must do more, say MPs

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The barriers disabled people face in navigating the built environment are an “unacceptable” attack on their quality of life and right to equality, according to a committee of MPs. The report on disability and the built environment, by the Commons women and equalities committee, calls on the government to take a more visible lead

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