Government ignores access in £6 billion housing scheme

A £6 billion government scheme that will enable 20,000 affordable homes to be built across England does not require housing providers to build a single accessible property, the company running the programme has admitted.

Figures from three of the housing associations funded under the scheme show that just 11 of the 1,146 new homes they will be building – fewer than one per cent – will be suitable for wheelchair-users.

Last week, housing minister Lee Rowley (pictured) announced a doubling of support for the government-backed loan fund, from £3 billion to £6 billion.

The Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, which provides low-cost loans to housing providers, is being backed by Rowley’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and was launched in 2020.

Announcing the new funding, Rowley said: “We know getting cost-effective loans can be a stumbling block for many developers building more affordable homes or upgrading their existing stock, so it is of the quality tenants deserve.

“This new round opening today will not only improve the lives of those already living in homes, but help thousands of families benefit from new, high-quality, affordable housing.”

But Disability News Service (DNS) has established that housing providers that receive backing through the fund do not need to commit to building a single accessible home with the money they secure through the scheme.

Last summer, DNS revealed that the government had failed to consult on new rules that would force nearly all new homes in England to be built to the M4(2) standard of accessibility, even though its original consultation on raising accessibility standards for new homes ended in December 2020.

Introducing the M4(2) standard as a minimum would mean that nearly all new homes would need step-free access to all entrance-level rooms, as well as facilities and other features to make the homes more easily adaptable over time.

But DLUHC has still not launched the consultation, despite the publication of the government’s much-criticised Disability Action Plan earlier this month.

The Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme does not ask housing providers to build any homes to M4(2) standards, or to the stricter M4(3) standard for homes that are suitable for wheelchair-users.

The scheme is managed for the government by investment manager ARA Venn.

Catherine Riley, chief of staff for ARA Venn, told DNS: “The scheme rules don’t contain specific requirements for housing type beyond being for social rent, affordable rent and affordable home ownership, and the housing mix built is determined by the registered providers that borrow from us, based on their assessment of local needs.”

She pointed to government guidance for housing providers seeking funding through the scheme, which includes no mention of disabled people or accessible housing.

But she declined to say how many homes had been built so far to the M4(2) and M4(3) standards using funding from the scheme.

DNS this week contacted four housing associations that have secured funding through the scheme.

Watford Community Housing, which has funding to build 300 affordable homes under the scheme – 200 of which have already been built – said that not one of those properties would be built to the M4(2) accessible homes standard or to M4(3).

Yorkshire Housing has funding to build 428 affordable homes through the scheme, and 134 of them will be built to the basic M4(2) standard, but just two to M4(3) and therefore suitable for wheelchair-users, although these numbers could change slightly as most of the homes have yet to secure planning permission.

Middlesbrough-based Thirteen said it had secured a £100 million loan through the scheme and was likely to develop 1,022 new homes with that funding.

Of those, 418 (41 per cent) are expected to be delivered to at least M4(2) standard and just nine (less than one per cent) are expected to be delivered to M4(3).

This means that just 11 of 1,146 new homes built by the three providers with funding under the scheme – less than one per cent – will be wheelchair-accessible, and 552 (fewer than half) will reach the M4(2) standard.

The fourth provider, Nottingham Community Housing Association, had not provided figures by noon today (Thursday).

DLUHC had failed to explain by noon today why it failed to include any requirements around accessible housing for its £6 billion scheme, and how it justified so few wheelchair-accessible homes being built with that funding.

But it confirmed that it imposed no requirements on developers other than under the scheme’s rules, as the aim of the scheme was primarily to build affordable housing, while it said it expected providers that secured funding to consider the needs of their tenants when deciding what type of housing to build.

DLUHC pointed out that government funding for its disabled facilities grant (DFG) scheme had risen from £220 million in 2015-16 to £625 million for 2024-25, helping to adapt about 50,000 homes a year.

It also pointed to its £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, which runs from 2021 to 2026 and will see supported housing making up 10 per cent of the homes delivered; and the Department of Health and Social Care’s Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund, which has received £210 million from 2022-23 to 2024-25 to develop specialist affordable housing.

DNS revealed last summer that the government had abandoned its pledge to consult on three improvements to the DFG scheme.

Ministers promised in their People at the Heart of Care white paper in December 2021 to consult on the three changes “in 2022”.

But the Department of Health and Social Care admitted last summer – in response to a freedom of information request – that it had abandoned those promises.

Ministers have been repeatedly warned about the chronic shortage of accessible housing, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission warning five years ago that more than 350,000 disabled people in England had unmet housing needs, with one-third of those in rented accommodation living in unsuitable properties.

The Commons levelling up, housing and communities committee has launched an inquiry to examine what central and local government and developers are doing to ensure disabled people have access to accessible and adaptable housing in England.

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