Here's the press release in full as we couldn't find much about this online yet:
New research reveals that commitments made in the London Plan to improve housing for disabled people are not being implemented by London boroughs, says John Grooms Housing Association.
JGHA, the leading provider of wheelchair accessible housing says that failure to implement the London Plan at a local level is letting down the 37,000 disabled people in the capital living in an inaccessible household.
The research, released to coincide with the International Day of Disabled People (3 December), reveals that the majority of London Boroughs are not acting on the clear policy commitment, made by the Greater London Authority in February 2004, that 10% of all new housing would be built to be fully wheelchair accessible.
The research revealed that only 12% of boroughs follow this commitment in their published plans, whilst a staggering 40% failed to mention any target at all. A quarter of all boroughs made no specific mention of
wheelchair accessible housing in their planning framework.
Tim Fallon, Chief Executive of JGHA says, "It is unacceptable that so many boroughs are failing to adopt the London Plan. The shortage of wheelchair accessible housing means that thousands of disabled people throughout London are living in unsuitable homes. It is essential that action is taken at a local level to implement the policy commitment".
As the numbers of disabled people continue to increase (a 28% rise in the last 20 years), JGHA is warning that the need for wheelchair accessible housing will only become more urgent. There is already a shortage of 300,000 wheelchair accessible houses nationwide.
JGHA is calling for the Greater London Authority, London boroughs and developers to work together and recommends the following actions:
Given the chronic shortage of wheelchair accessible housing, wheelchair standard houses should only be occupied byhouseholds which include a wheelchair user
Planning agreements between councils and developers should be strengthened
Further detailed research on the housing needs of local disabled people should be conducted by each council.
Tim Fallon continues, "We will continue to work with boroughs across the capital as well as other authorities nationwide to address the housing needs of disabled people. The shortage of wheelchair accessible housing
must be taken seriously and addressed".
