In need of accessible council housing swap!

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Jessasaurus

I'm not sure what to do. I currently live in a ground floor council flat. I've been here 5 years now, I had to move out my parents as my health had gotten too bad and I could no longer do stairs. My health is only worse now and although my flat is ground floor, it has steps and a slope to access, the shower is in a bath and the garden is unsafe & unsecured, but I have two dogs. I also may end up needing a wheelchair sooner rather than later.
I wanted to try to move to a bungalow, but most are over 55 (ridiculous considering most 55-65 year olds are in way better health than me. I even met people in their 90s more able-bodied than I am, when I worked in pharmacy! I wrote to Clarion Housing (my HA) asking if I would be permitted to move into one anyway, several months ago and I've received no response.
What would my next step be? Moving into a bungalow, closer to services like my GP, pharmacy and grocery store would change my life and enable me to work on my health better.
Thank you for reading and hopefully responding
Jess

Kimi87

Unfortunately your need for a secure garden for the dogs is unlikely to influence getting any priority for a move.

The first step would be getting a care needs assessment, the Occupational Therapist can formally record your Housing needs.

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/help-from-social-services-and-charities/getting-a-needs-assessment/

You can then approach your Housing Association again, it may be that a more suitable flat is the answer - for bungalows there is extremely high demand in some areas, alongside very short supply which means only those of the appropriate age or full time wheelchair users are allowed to have them.

I agree an age bar is unfair.

Or the OT can recommend adaptions such as a wet room, ramp, handrail etc to make your current home more suitable.

I myself had to decide between taking a suitable flat or waiting years & years more for a bungalow. Having a bungalow is the absolute dream but being practical I didn't want to wait years & years so I took an absolutely lovely flat which is more than suited to my needs.