Thousands of Wheelchair Users Waiting For Social Housing

Almost 24,000 wheelchair users in the UK are waiting for social housing because of a ‘massive shortfall’ in accessible homes, a national charity has warned.  Aspire, which provides assistance to those paralysed by spinal cord injury, has published research showing just over 5,000 wheelchair accessible homes were built in 2013 - lower than any year since 2005. It found 14% of people with spinal cord injury are discharged to a permanent accessible property after completing their rehabilitation with the NHS. By matching freedom of information responses on wheelchair accessible properties to wheelchair users, it estimated it would take 6 years to meet current demand, without even taking into account new wheelchair users. Download a copy of the report from the Aspire website.