Affordable Housing Gateway: Accessible homes (FOI)

​Request

I'd be grateful if you could please provide me with the following information under the freedom of information law:

A

The current number of accessible homes managed through the Affordable Gateway Scheme?

B

The total number of people on the waiting list for accessible homes as of the date this request?

C

The total number of people living in accessible homes who do not have a disability that would require them to live in an accessible home?

D

An estimate of the number of accessible homes required by 2025?

Response

There is a wide range of people who need housing with specific access or utilisation needs. Therefore there is not a standard definition of ‘accessible’; what is suitable for one person may not be suitable for another. In answering this question, we have understood the term accessible to mean properties that have been adapted in some way to accommodate additional access or utilisation needs.

A

The Social Security department does not hold information about the number of ‘accessible’ homes available through the Affordable Gateway scheme. The housing stock is the responsibility of each individual social housing provider.

B

There are 86 clients on the Housing Gateway waiting list for accessible homes.

C

The Social Security department does not hold this information as the social housing providers manage their accessible housing stock. However, tenants who are releasing an adapted property (because they no longer require it) are helped to do so as they are given priority in Band 1 on the waiting list for rehousing.

D

The Social Security department does not hold this information. However current housing policy is that all new social housing must meet the ‘Lifetime Home Standard’ and be designed to ensure access for people with disabilities. Where a client has a demonstrable housing need that cannot be readily met in mainstream social housing, the Strategic Housing Unit will work with clients and other relevant agencies to develop a bespoke housing option. As part of a work on planning for Jersey’s future housing needs, consideration will be given to health-related population projections and the likely impact on housing of the number of people with specific illnesses or disabilities.