Help and advice needed on adapted housing search — Scope | Disability forum
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Help and advice needed on adapted housing search

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Katherine Hayward
Katherine Hayward Community member Posts: 74 Listener
edited September 2014 in Disability rights and campaigning
Hi

my fiance and I are looking for adapted housing and are considering the following areas: Oxfordshire Berkshire West Sussex East Sussex Southhampton Plymouth Exeter or Bristol. I am in an electric wheelchair due to spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and also have hydrocephalus and I'm registered blind. We are also interested in Kingston upon Thames (Surrey) as I was born there. We need to have an airport close by as well as accessible shops and a shopping centre, cinema theatre and other things to do as well as an accessible train station nearby.I cannot drive. We are also considering London but do not know what areas of these places are good to live in and which areas are not . We are on the housing list for Oxfordshire and Berkshire and do not know whether you have to have links to the areas (eg work, having lived in the area) to be able to live there
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  • Noah
    Noah Community member Posts: 425 Pioneering
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    I have written some other posts with suggestions on how to get adapted housing...............

    You may get preference on housing lists if you live or work in the area, but once you have a permanent tenancy agreement you can easily do a swap to area that you prefer using www.homeswapper.co.uk.

    I'm not sure which areas are best for wheelchair accessibility, but if you look on the London tube map some stations are marked as being wheel chair accessible. Hope this is of some help.

    Maybe the forum moderator can advise on how you read my previous posts on housing.
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  • Noah
    Noah Community member Posts: 425 Pioneering
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    My advice is to get yourself on as many housing lists as possible. www.devonhomechoice.co.uk is the service for Exeter and Plymouth. Make sure you get as much supporting medical evidence as you can, and take some time to look at the criteria first, then write your application to ensure you cover all the important points to ensure the best possible banding. They normally put you in one band lower to start with, so don't be afraid to appeal, remember it is based on them having the correct information at the time. Normally a letter from your occupational therapist and at least one doctor is helpful. Focus on the risks of you staying in current accommodation to your physical and mental Wellbeing and how these risks will be reduced with the appropriate accommodation adapted to meet your needs. Also worth noting the difficulty there is in finding suitably adapted properties in the private rental sector. It good to show that you have tried to find suitable accommodation in the private sector.

    Level Access
    Parking for disabled
    Accessible Kitchen - Work top height, cupboards etc
    Extra Storage for mobility equipment
    Accessible power sockets
    Level access Garden
    Accessible Bathroom
    Quiet Location - eg Bungalow - Required due the increased amount of dependence on sleep and rest to extra effort required with CP
    Good links to local amenities and public transport.
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  • ScopeHelpline
    ScopeHelpline Community member Posts: 207 Courageous
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    Hi Noah,

    I've taken a look at your previous posts and I think this may be the thread you're referring to: http://www.scope.org.uk/forums/my-life/housing-difficulties.

    Kind regards,

    Forums Moderator
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  • ezinebuzz
    ezinebuzz Community member Posts: 1 Listener
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    Thanks for the link.
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