“Having my own flat is really important to me. I like being independent and being able to live an independent life” Richard, Learning Disability England member
Many people want the same as Richard but are not getting the chance to live an independant life. Some people are recorded by Councils as living in unsettled housing.
Unsettled housing means homes that don’t meet people’s needs, or they can’t live there for as long as they want to.
This included B&Bs, emergency hostels and residential care homes.
In 2017/2018, 24,200 people with learning disabilities lived in unsettled accommodation in England.
Warrington had the worst rate, with 39.6% of adult with a learning disability who were known to social services living in unsettled housing.
The Isle of Wight and Birmingham also had poor rates.
Isle of Wight had 33.3%
Birmingham had 32.6%
This means in some places around a third of people known to social services are living in unsettled housing.
These numbers come from the Adult Social Care Outcomes report. You can see the 2017 / 2018 ones here
We don’t know exactly why this is happening but lots of people are telling us that housing choices are being reduced.
Housing choices is one of Learning Disability England’s work priorities. We know being able to choose where you live is important to our members.
We believe everyone should have the right to live independently in the community with choices equal to others as set out in Article 19 of the UNCRPD.
This includes being able to choose where they live and who they live with.
One of Learning Disability England self-advocate Spokespeople, Richard, spoke to us about why having a settled home is so important. He said,
I’ve lived in my own flat for 14 years, I rent it from a private landlord. Having my own flat is really important to me. I like being independent and being able to live independent life. Being in charge and doing what I want to do makes me feel good and important. If I didn’t have my own flat I think I would have to rely on my family and other people too much, I want to be independent.
One way some people get the home and independent life they want is through Supported Housing.
Starts at Home Day – Friday 30 August 2019
Starts at Home Day is a day when housing associations around England celebrate supported housing and the positive impact it makes on thousands of lives.
This day of action is central to the Starts at Home campaign, a campaign that has a simple but important aim – to ensure that people who need extra support will always have a safe home that meets their needs.
Have you been affected by a lack of housing choices?
If you would like to share your story get in touch with Rachael