Frustration getting on the housing ladder as someone with CP

Hello!

First post, so apologies in advance if there's some kind of forum etiquette! Was made aware of this forum by speaking with an adviser today.

This post is mostly just going to be me venting and asking for advice from anyone who has gone through the same process.

I'm a 30, soon-to-be 31 year old who is trying to buy his first home. I have Spastic Diaplegia CP, wheelchair bound and currently living with parents.

First frustration I have is that it feels like I have to pay a premium for a property in my area just because of my disability. The pool of homes I'm limited too are ground floor flats / apartments and bungalows. Both of which I appear to have to be battling pensioners for.

Second frustration is that to combat this, I have started to look at alternatives such as shared ownership schemes and rent-to-buy schemes. Rent-to-buy schemes appear to not be an option as I can get a mortgage over a certain amount. I was advised this by the person I spoke to at a housing association. I tried to explain that the only reason that I'm looking at the option is due to the limited number of properties available to me because of accessibility issues, but that didn't seem to move the needle.

This week, I have been given first refusal on a bungalow for a 50% ownership with a housing association. Most of the property is accessible for me, however would need some alterations such as an accessible kitchen and some tweaks to the shower room.

The issue I have is that the property is in another Local Authority from where I currently live, and the Local Authority where I could be living have advised that they won't take a referral for an OT assessment until I get the keys to the property. Because I would need to access some DFG funding to pay for the adaptions, it would mean that I would have to commit to a property without knowing what the actual expense to me would be, and because DFG is means tested, as far as I'm aware, I could be on the hook for thousands of pounds, which would make the move impossible for me.

I've contacted the housing association and they haven't really offered much support or guidance to this point, except pointing out that the work would have to be assessed by their own surveyor that I would then be charged for.

Just feels like the system isn't designed for people with disabilities who want to live independently, but not assisted living.

If I was to purchase a property, I would be the first in my direct family to actually do so, so I don't really have the support network to advise on this stuff.

I also don't have a safety net, so this needs to be right and make sense to me financially.

Any advice is welcome. Sorry about the rant!

Ben