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?

Thread will likely get removed and me banned no doubt @HelenaDove . Thank you for your support, and obviously saddened by the issues you and DH face.

perhaps you would be better applying for extra care or very supported care housing with the myriad of disabilities you are dropping into your angry posts. They may be more suitable for the disabilities you present.

The social worker is highlighting a care package which is going through the process at the moment. The main highlight of her report was moving to a "suitable bungalow or flat the Social Services wish to vet to reduce long-term expense".

Thanks @2K19

No chance of supported housing due to costs locally. The care package is also heavily restricted due to cost grounds, hence the property change being highlighted by them.

Haha, never has a lyric been me powerful...

"I don't want the world to see me,
Coz I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am."

me? More!

Discrimination is defined as treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic.

The Equality Act allows for age discrimination when it can be ‘objectively justified’. That means the employer or service provider must show that they have a good reason for discriminating on the basis of age.

Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010). Both myself, and DP, have substantial, long-term, disability as defined by the act.

Therefore I will be asking the LA/HAs along with MP, Councillor, local housing company whom control housing stock allocation, for their objective justification in denying access to a bungalow under age grounds.

Disability means the LA/HAs are required, under the Equality Act, to make a reasonable adjustment. Offering us, to date, four ground-floor flats without ease-of-access, as detailed in my prior posts in detail, is NOT reasonable adjustment. Offering properties with steps, or long distance to access, is NOT reasonable adjustment. Offering properties with a bath we cannot access, and refusing to modify, is NOT reasonable adjustment.

It's arguable the stance shown is discriminatory under the Equality Act, and refusing access to a bungalow is both age discrimination AND not a reasonable adjustment under disability discrimination.

As provided by an agency I dealt with yesterday. Anyone still want to disagree?

My son has just spent 16 months in hospital the other side of the country (at huge expense to the NHS) due to lack of housing. He will be coming back to a bungalow. A flat was ruled out for him by his care team, although he doesn’t have mobility needs so it didn’t need to be a completely one level bungalow (largely one level would have been okay).

Anyway point being the only reason he was in hospital for most of the last 16 months (certainly the last 14) was due to lack of housing. So anyone who thinks it easy to find something suitable when you have disabilities has no idea.

Devilish so glad to read that your son is coming out of hospital and will be living nearby.
OP my dsis is/was in a similar position although local authority made many adaptations to her home (including building a downstairs wetroom) as her MS has progressed the adaptations are no longer enough. Now with social care involvement she has been allocated a bungalow even though she is ten years younger than qualifying age which is 60 plus here. Hopefully social care involvement will be the key to solving your difficulty as well.

Nobody any comments since my Equality Act posting? Shame that. Fingers crossed it'll do the trick once I start pushing the LA/HAs!

I still can't see why you insist on a bungalow when a ground floor flat would be just as suitable if access was simple. I refuse to believe every one in your area has unsuitable access.

I've asked before but you didn't answer - have you looked at private renting?

A lot of council bungalows are really tiny and probably not suitable for wheelchairs, anyhow.

Yes the council bungalow I saw was basically a very small flat space.

Also councils will not rehouse you to a place suitable for wheelchairs on the basis that you will need one in the future, only that you need one now. And even then you wait ages.

MN.............private landlords are the devil incarnate.

Also MN when a disabled person cant get or find accessible housing ..................have you tried private renting

Pray tell where are all these private landlords with all this accessible housing.

I know there is a housing association called Habinteg that has accessible homes.

@MoreCheeseDear they are breaking the Equality Act under TWO protected characteristics, if that's not enough for you, RTFT, I'm tired of posting the same shite.

Some of the attitudes on here are really shocking, OP I'm really sorry you're going through this and I'm sorry people here have been so spiteful. I'm glad you're making some progress and I hope it works out for you, I can't even imagine what you must be going through on a daily basis.

@SimplySteve

You’re being very aggressive, you know.

Simply Steve I would step away from this thread in your shoes. The way people have spoken to you is appalling. If they cared to read the full thread then they would see that you have mentioned multiple times your ‘myriad of disabilities’. They would also realise that you have bid on multiple gff but have been knocked back due to the council deeming the flats unsuitable for you!

As someone suffering in a similar fashion to the op I honestly would happily give that poster my ‘myriad of disabilities’, then allow them to try to find appropriate housing!

This thread is very upsetting to read as a disabled person myself! Such vitriol towards someone who clearly has severe disabilities and who also has a partner with severe disabilities.

I have a friend who has waited FOUR years for appropriate housing for her, her dh and their son who is a young autistic teen. They moved them from their up and downstairs home, and placed them in a one bedroom gff until they can find more suitable accommodation. Her dh sleeps in a hospital bed in the tiny lounge and my friend and her young teenage son share the tiny one bedroom. They are now waiting on a new build that will be designed to suit her dh’s disabilities. Four years my friend has been unable to even sleep in the same room as her husband

A gff CAN be suitable if it has been designed with a disabled person in mind- with automatic doors that open to allow entry and parking just outside the entrance. Unfortunately, thanks to Margaret Thatcher’s Tory Government and the Right to buy scheme, there is a serious shortage of suitable council houses/ flats! Not all areas have accessible housing available- often needing to create somewhere suitable! Yes perhaps bungalows can be small and have narrow hallways but so can gff and at least you don’t have to navigate TWO very heavy doors just to access your home.

I am lucky enough to have a council bungalow. There is a girl a few doors down who is about 30 who has a mental disability and she has a bungalow, as did a friend who had COPD at the age of about 50. Our council seems to allow each application on its merits. But they would not house someone disabled in a home that was unsuitable for them, and would make alterations to any home to make disabled living easier (e.g. walk-in shower, handrails in garden and indoors, etc.). I doubt if any council would house someone with disabilities in a house which was unsuited to their disability: I think that would be illegal. Unfortunately, council housing is at a premium, and bungalows are particularly sought-after. If you cannot persuade your council to re-house you, you could try Homeswapper, or simply do what I did and put in another application for council housing, specifying that you want a bungalow and listing your disabilities.

Hi @SimplySteve
You may not want to say on here but how much flexibility have you got in area choices - would you move/could you move into different LA (but still in GM area)? Do you look on MM or PP too?

@MissAriadneOliver

Oh? Fancy that given some of the vitriol aimed at me.

@myrtlewilson

Yep, two miles away from another county in fact. We have spoken to them outlining circumstances and after submitting detailed information and evidence letters are waiting for a reply. A borough where the bungalow requirement is significant disability or age 55+, and that disability is considered above age in their criterium.

Maybe Claire, I’ve had my rant, and there are others in a same, or similar, situation purely from this thread. I’m fully committed to seeing this out, not just for myself, but for everyone else nationwide suffering the same discriminatory stances. My fire is well and truly lit. The Equality Act, and I have MP and local Councillor with me, and the two equality rights organisations I’ve spoken to in last 48 hours. So I won’t just leave it, or stop updating because it’s not just me and DP in this mess, and I’m fully invested in causing as much noise as needed.

2K19 Mon 07-Jan-19 02:37:17
A gff would be suitable. Be thankful you are housed and get your moderate rent paid. The choice to live in the property type you desire is a luxury afforded to those that can buy and pay mortgages.

How fucking mean. Why don't you stop fucking about and just petition the government to put all disabled people back in institutions ffs??