Public landlords meet disability needs

31 May 07
Public sector housing bodies have responded positively to the Disability Discrimination Act and routinely upgrade homes to suit the needs of disabled people in contrast to private sector landlords, research has found.

01 June 2007

Public sector housing bodies have responded positively to the Disability Discrimination Act and routinely upgrade homes to suit the needs of disabled people – in contrast to private sector landlords, research has found.

The research into the impact of the DDA on the housing sector, published by the Department for Work and Pensions on May 24, revealed that housing associations and local authorities had a good awareness of the Act and regularly 'surpassed the requirements of the new DDA duties for landlords'.

In many cases, 'they had built new houses or extensions to make a property suitable for a particular family, although more common adaptations involved providing walk-in showers, wet rooms, or changing the layouts of the properties,' the study states.

By contrast, private landlords had struggled with the DDA, which was introduced last year.

'There was very low awareness of disability legislation among the private sector, and little awareness of the new duties for landlords,' the report finds.

However, some private landlords had made the adjustments to properties required by tenants under the Act.

Costs incurred by landlords as a result of the DDA range from £100 for providing handrails to £200,000 for entire building extensions.

PFjun2007

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