Local authority restricting bungalows on age basis

[SimplySteve]

I've considered that my local authority restricting bungalows to over 55s (regardless if they have any disabilities etc, age is the sole eligibility criteria) is ageism? Being restricted from one when we are both carrying serious disability is shocking, even have support from GP, social worker, medical specialist nurse. We fall numerous times a week in current property too. This is discriminatory surely?

My local council does offer bungalows to disabled people under 55 so it does depend upon area. They are very few and far between though and when my friend was being considered for one they told her she could wait years, she’s in a three bedroom house which has been adapted for her needs....so a stair lift, wet room etc. It’s still far from ideal but better than nothing.

If they offer a BFF then ideally a new build would be the best as building regulations now say properties have to be large enough to take a wheelchair I gather,

I am not saying it is often, but this is the age when age related illnesses and disabilities start to hit. Anyway where I live it is not difficult to get in to these places as long as you are over 55 and have some need for warden support. If there was a long waiting list I suspect they would increase the age limit.

Yes agreed that I think you should push on the refusal to make adaptations. They have a legal duty to do that.

They have a duty to make reasonable adaptations, and part of the reasonableness test is availability of funding. Given all the cuts it's quite conceivable that the LA does not have sufficient funds to meet the needs of their clients.

The only way to change that is for the government to start properly funding social care and stop rationing public services.

Sorry didn't realise funding was part of the reasonableness test. So sounds like OP can do nothing legally about this?

accessibility is about more than being on the ground floor though Rockin. op has stated repeatedly that the flats that are available are not suitable. if say for eg a council office was on the ground floor but up two steps, no ramp and no automatic doors, would it be deemed accessible or not, do you think? it's disgraceful that your brother had to move so far away. It sounds like the authority where he lives now (rightly imo) bent the rules for him and other tenants re age restrictions in order to house him appropriately, so I'm a bit curious as to why you think op is 'cheeky' for wanting similar consideration.

Madam, I don't believe there are no suitable flats in her area unless she has massively restricted herself with that too.

They may not have actual council owned property that's suitable, but there are dozens of companies/trusts that offer purpose built disability housing all over the country. There are bungalows on my DBS complex too, but only a few, lots of flats though. The council can allocate to these sorts of trusts, or I'm pretty sure you can approach them yourself too.

DB was happy to move, his was an emergency situation where thanks to the shit storm that is UC, he lost the flat he owned & was about to be homeless. He sees it as a fresh start, so was happy to move LAs, plus he has friends where he now lives. Basically, he was very flexible & was open to accepting anything that suited his needs health wise. He isn't in a wheelchair yet but his flat has wide doors, good turning etc & double lift access & ramps. It's a beautiful flat, in a beautiful complex. All to a very high, disabled friendly spec. There are places like this all over the country, there's a huge one a few hundred yards from me at the other end of the country.

So I don't for one second think the OP doesn't deserve to be housed to suit her actual needs. I'm disabled myself, so definitely understand that. I just think she is too narrow in her criteria, so is on a hiding to nowhere

yes its a joke everyone should be able

I think encouraging op to widen their search criteria and get advice to make sure they're exploring all options is a good thing, for sure. I think it could have been phrased way more constructively. and I think there are a lot of very unhelpful 'paupers should suck it up and be grateful' type replies. I think some people see the words 'council tenant' and automatically assume that an op is being recalcitrant, entitled, ungrateful etc etc, even when they may not be. those two words are up there with 'free childcare' for eliciting horrible envious knee-jerk replies on here imo.

paupers should suck it up and be grateful

I don’t think anyone actually thinks this, but OP does have to be realistic. There’ll probably have to be some sort of compromise. I said it earlier, but I don’t think many live in the ‘ideal’ home for their needs. It would be wonderful, but at this moment in time it’s just a pipe dream. So we have to work with what we can get.

I'm sorry Madam, but I do still think expecting to get what you want, over what you need in social housing & getting stroppy about it if others don't agree, calling ageist etc, when there is a huge countrywide housing crisis, is pretty self entitled. My DB would have loved a bungalow too, especially for his beloved cat who was used to outdoors & more space in his 2 bed house, but he was realistic & happily accepted what suits his needs/future needs.

Even those of us in the private sector can't always get what we want when buying property, but what we can afford, so it's not about knocking someone's need for social housing, but about not losing sight of reality 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm also wondering if the OP realises that if she does get a serviced bungalow, it will be more expensive.

With 2 lots of PIP & Carers allowance, that might be affordable BUT, they will have to give up at least one, if not both lots of Carers allowance to the housing company, as this is what pays for the services on offer. This suits my DB fine, as no one was claiming Carers for him, but I can see it might make quite a dent in the finances of a disabled couple, quite possibly enough to make that bungalow unaffordable

where has op even been offered what they need though? people are assuming they're being bratty, but they've said they haven't been offered anything suitable? unless there was a post where they said 'they offered me an accessible flat but I told them to fuck off because I also want a pony' and I've missed it, I have no idea why people are being so salty and hostile to this person (I think it's a man btw)

Because as I said below Madam, from experience with 5 different LAs, both north & south & a good friend who is an advocate/SW for the homeless, I don't believe there is no suitable, adequately adapted property, there are tons of companies such as Hanover homes that provide purpose built retirement housing, that's open to disabled too, it's all built from scratch with wheelchairs etc in mind, The LAs refer onto these housing trusts & do wave the age restrictions where it's appropriate, but you need to be a bit flexible

'The choice to live in the property type you desire is a luxury afforded to those that can buy and pay mortgages."

No. We bought a nice home for 550 k in euro (so not cheap) and it's smaller than what would be practical for us. However, this is the best that we can afford so this is it. Most of us want more than we can get, that goes for home owners as well. That doesn't mean that you are entitled to more.

Just incase you missed my comment earlier OP. If you don't already have it, I think you'd benefit from contacting the Advocacy Service & having someone fight for better housing on your behalf.

This is what made the difference in my DBS situation & as I said, he's under 55 & was still accepted with persuasion from his Advocate. I think it's unrealistic to expect a bungalow, but you will get something much better suited to your needs than you have now & who knows, you might get lucky. Consider whether you can really afford an assisted bungalow though if you lose Carers allowance. My DB hoped for a bungalow too, but he loves his new flat & area he now lives in. It can get better, but get help & be realistic.

www.seap.org.uk/getfile/5171/

@bookmum08
"Why do you assume that those who may not agree that OP is being discriminated against are able-bodied themselves?"

One of the housing officers discriminating against DHs disability was a woman of colour Just because someone is in an oppressed group themselves does not mean that they are never prejudicial towards another group.

I live in a so called adapted GFF, I'm 52, have been disabled for 10 years, I'm a single parent to a 15 year old DS who is autistic. Calling it adapted is a joke, while I don't need a wheelchair at the moment, the time will come when I do, the doors aren't wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, the front door to my flat has less than a metre to a wall facing it, so not enough room to turn a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, the kitchen isn't wide enough for a wheelchair user to turn round in & the work surfaces are too high, the bathroom has a bath in it with a shower over, I'm already too bad on my legs to get in & out but the council refuse to remove the bath, there are 5 steps outside the block, there is a ramp but when you suffer from fatigue & pain this increases the distance by 60 metres to the entrance, there is no parking except on the road 200 metres away. The bins for the block are the commercial skip bins, the top of the bin is level with my upper chest, the lids are too heavy for me to lift & then I've got to lift my rubbish in to the bin. The council won't accept that this flat is unsuitable for my needs, that is without the needs of my DS who doesn't sleep because of the noise from the rest of the block, there is nowhere secure where he can go outside, I know now he is 15, but when we moved in he was only 9 & had nowhere to play out safely. In this city I don't qualify for a bungalow as I'm not disabled enough, I'm right on the border between 2 counties & if I moved over the border I would qualify for a bungalow but would have to claim universal credit & that's one hurdle I'm not ready to face after going through 2 lots of assessments in a year.

HelenaDove just to say the quote above was aimed at me, not by me.

Ah sorry bookmum

In 2008 our HA refused to put in a ramp for DHs mobility scooter
In late 2017 the HA told DH to get rid of his scooter or they would take it and destroy it (tort notice pinned to communal wall) or get rid of his scooter or they would take it and sell it to cover the cost of removal.

This is the mentality we are dealing with

And we had already had three permission letters from the HA saying that DH could keep his scooter in the hallway because every time we got a new HO they made him seek permission again.

Now he has a shed to store it in after i kicked off on social media.

disabled Paralympian = saint.

disabled social housing tenant = sinner.

I'm in danger of losing my mobility car due to this Disgusting benefits system, if I was to lose it I would be totally housebound unless I got a mobility scooter, but there is nowhere to keep one, I don't know how anyone who lives in a flat & uses a scooter manages.

As a general rule I don't think the only over 55 is discriminatory, as when I'm older I would prefer a bit of peace and quiet etc. So not having young families living next door would be preferable. In your case, you are clearly living in unsuitable and dangerous conditions. I would contact your local MP and SW and explain (politely and calmly) the situation and ask if the Local Authority can make an exception in your case or purchase a suitable property or adapt a reasonable property to suit you and your partners needs. The only over 55 is a POLICY and not law (maybe you can have a no raves policy attached to your tenancy agreement lol) . I would ignore the haters, no ones knows your conditions and struggles. Good Luck.

So many people replying to don't understand what it's like to be in this situation.

My council had the same policy - so anyone aged over 50 could have a bungalow OVER disabled people. So not disabled and aged over 50, just over 50.

This policy was challenged by a local disability access group and the policy is now anyone with a high band due to mobility issue or over 50 which is fair. There were ridiculous situations of full time wheelchair users trapped in their unsuitable homes being left there while bungalows where available.

Also sheltered accommodation and bungalows are two separate things for those saying they are needed just for older people, plus many councils now allow younger disabled people into sheltered accommodation anyway.

There are so many reasons why a ground floor flat is unsuitable or much more difficult. It can be much harder to adapt a flat for wheelchair access, so those saying the council can adapt - yes, but only if it's physically possible. And it's not good saying your area has flats with their own entrances if the OPs area doesn't.

And why should the OP have to move out of area because of their disability? OP may have support in place in her own area that's needed. There are suitable properties in OPs area - they are just being denied access to them.

Most of the flats in my area are also blocks without their own entrances.

So I definitely think you should challenge that policy OP with your local MP as it worked in my area.