As part of the Scottish Government’s new Housing 2040 strategy it has published a new accessibility standard for housing in Scotland.
The accessibility standard is a central part of the new housing strategy and will for the first time mean that homes in Scotland will have to meet a certain level of accessibility. The standard will create a single set of quality and accessibility standards and it doesn’t matter whether you own your home or rent it.
The report says it will focus on improving the supply of accessible and adaptable homes, especially for young disabled people who currently face a real shortage of suitable housing.
The report stated that there are a considerable number of people who are not having their needs met or able to choose a home that meets their needs. In summary, it highlighted that 61,000 people in Scotland need adaptations to their home; only one per cent of housing is fully accessible for wheelchair users; and around 10,000 disabled Scots are on housing waiting lists.
In addition, the report stated that the challenges will increase without action as Scotland copes with having a population of 730,000 people aged 75 or over by 2040. “This will put much greater demand on housing and health and social care services to help people to live independently at home and our response must match the scale of the challenge,” it said.
The number of disabled people is also expected to rise, with research by Horizon Housing in 2018 projecting an 80 per cent increase in the population of wheelchair users in Scotland by 2024.
Following consultation, and subject to the outcome of the upcoming election, the Scottish Government will publish a draft Standard in 2023 and introduce legislation in 2024-25, for phased introduction between 2025 and 2030, recognising that different types of homes in different places may need more or less time to achieve compliance.
You can read the Housing to 2040 strategy by clicking the link below
