Inequalities and challenges experienced by disabled people in Scotland: evidence review

Housing

This chapter will present some of the limited evidence found on disabled people’s experiences of housing and homelessness identified in this review.

Scottish Government data on the support needs of main applicants in households facing homelessness suggest that 30% had a mental health problem, 5% had a learning disability, 7% had a physical disability, and 12% had a medical condition^[101]. In addition, Scottish Core Questions 2023 data shows that social renters were more likely to have a limiting, long-term physical or mental health condition (48.7%) than those in the private rented sector (22.7%), those who own their homes outright (29.8%) and those who own their homes through a mortgage (15.8%)^[102].

As of 2024, Scotland had 3,173 housing stock options adapted for wheelchair use, 24,410 for ambulant disabled and 2,230 for other disability adaptations^[103]. Housing Options Scotland investigated the allocation of accessible and adaptable homes for disabled people^[104] which suggested that policies and processes aiming to allocate disabled people to appropriate housing are complex and often difficult to understand for those going through the process. This report found that disabled people often lived in inappropriate housing while waiting for a more accessible home which can cause physical and emotional harm. This report highlights that disabled people and their families should have equal housing opportunities and recommended that policy needs to be adapted to reduce the stress and exclusion faced by disabled people trying to access accessible housing. Isolation from services and infrastructure was highlighted to be a particular challenge for disabled people in rural local authorities as there is less choice of accessible housing in these areas.

It is important to consider the individual disabilities, and how these may impact experiences in relation to housing. A report by McKenzie et al investigated the views of staff members and service users about the support needs of homeless people with intellectual disabilities and identified barriers to support due to the persons intellectual disability not being disclosed or identified^[105]. This research reflected the challenges faced by people with intellectual disabilities who were homeless, such as needing more help to complete forms to access housing, increased vulnerability to exploitation, and the inaccessibility of services. The research reported that a screening questionnaire was tested and found that this was a useful way of identifying support needs for people seeking housing with intellectual disabilities.

More research investigating the housing needs and challenges of disabled people in Scotland may be useful to gather a fuller understanding of their experiences as the evidence presented here is limited.