Serious housing shortage for people with disabilities, says association

There is a serious lack of housing in Ireland suitable for wheelchairs users, according to the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA).

Rosemary Keogh, chief executive of the wheelchair advocacy group, said it was very difficult for people in wheelchairs to secure appropriate independent housing.

“There aren’t enough houses out there on the private market, and local authority supply of disability housing is nowhere near enough to meet demand,” she said on Thursday at the launch of the IWA three-year strategic plan for 2017 to 2020.

The problem is people in wheelchairs need specific requirements that most ordinary homes may not meet. Single-storey houses are preferable, or apartments with a reliable lift service. The size of door frames needs to be larger to allow wheelchair users easy access entering the home, and rooms and bathrooms need to be large enough to turn a full wheelchair around in.

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The lack of supply for wheelchair-friendly homes has lead to large numbers of wheelchair users waiting on local authority housing lists for purpose built homes for people with disabilities. “There has always been a homeless or housing crisis for people with physical disabilities, because the housing stock was never there,” Ms Keogh said.

Appropriate housing

The result is many older children have to continue to live with their families due to the lack of appropriate housing.

“Historically more people lived at home with their families or lived in a congregated setting – now people want to live independently. People don’t want to live with their parents for the rest of their lives any more than any of us do. The State policy on housing hasn’t caught up with that,” Ms Keogh said.

She said the wheelchair association regularly heard many cases of people confined to live in one room in their family home.

Eileen O’Mahony, a wheelchair user and president of the IWA, said much progress had been made for people with disabilities in Ireland.

“The Irish Wheelchair Association was founded by a small group of wheelchair users who set about changing beliefs and attitudes for people with disabilities. While much has been achieved since our foundation, many challenges still remain.”