The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has
today published written evidence submissions for its disabled
people in the housing sector inquiry, ahead of opening public
evidence session on Monday with disability, housing and planning
experts (the full witness list is included below).
The written evidence
published today includes evidence from a range of
organisations including Disability Rights UK, Inclusion London,
Housing Made for Everyone (HoME) coalition, and Habinteg,
Propertymark, and the Chartered Institute of Building.
The written evidence submissions cover a range of
issues relating to progress on mandating a minimum standard
of accessible and adaptable dwellings for all new homes,
developers incentives to build new accessible homes, references
to disabled people in the National Planning Policy Framework
(NPPF), and whether the maximum grant under the Disabled
Facilities Grant (DFG) should be reviewed.
At Monday’s evidence session, the cross-party
group of MPs are likely to question witnesses on a range of
topics relating to disabled people’s experiences of finding
suitable housing; the provision of support for disabled people to
adapt their homes, including the DFG; and to what extent planning
policy supports the delivery of accessible housing.
The inquiry is examining
the role of Government, local councils and developers in ensuring
the delivery of suitable housing for disabled people and what the
Government can do to support disabled tenants in the private
rented sector in England.
The Committee is also looking at the National Planning Policy
Framework (NPPF) and whether it ensures housebuilding complies
with the Equality Act 2010. The inquiry is also examining
the progress made since the publication of the
findings (in July 2022) of the Government’s consultation
titled ‘Raising accessibility standards for new homes’.
Key questions for the inquiry are included in the full terms of
reference which are listed in this news website item.
The Committee will also be looking at how far the Government can
ensure it provides provision to support disabled residents who do
not live in new build homes and whether the Disabled Facilities Grant
supports housing adaptations.
The Committee recently launched an online survey for its
inquiry looking at what Government can do to ensure disabled
people have access to accessible and adaptable housing in England
(see news item). The
survey is designed to gather
disabled people’s views and experiences of finding or adapting
suitable housing. The closing date for responses is Thursday 15
February.
Evidence session – Monday 5 February, 16.00 Committee
Room 15
Witnesses: From
16.00 ·
Mikey Erhardt, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Disability Rights
UK·
Christina McGill, Co-Chair, HoME coalition (Housing Made for
Everyone), Director of Social Impact and External Affairs,
Habinteg Housing
Association·
Jacquel Runnalls, Co-opted Lead in Accessibility and Inclusive
Design, Royal College of Occupational Therapist’s (RCOT)
Specialist Section in Housing
From
17.00 ·
Cllr , Member of the Local
Infrastructure & Net Zero Board, Local Government
Association, and Leader of the Opposition (Liberal Democrats) on
Southwark
Council·
Adrian Dobson, Executive Director Professional Knowledge and
Standards, Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA)·
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns,
Propertymark·
Sam Stafford, Planning Director, Home Builders
Federation
