FOI request (FOI213484)

Wheelchair accessible properties

Requested Fri 28 April 2017
Responded  Fri 28 April 2017

1.    How many council owned wheelchair accessible properties are there in total your local authority area? i.e. combined number of properties that are occupied and unoccupied.

a.    What standard is your local authority using for determining if the property is wheelchair accessible?

2.    What is your area's policy for providing temporary accommodation for applicants who require wheelchair accessible accommodation?

a.    If there is no written policy, could you please provide information as to what your area might do in these types of situations?  

3.      How many applicants requiring a wheelchair accessible property are on your waiting list?

4.      How many unoccupied wheelchair accessible properties are there currently available for bidding in your local authority area?       

5.      Does your local authority operate a policy whereby people registering on your Housing Register must have lived within the local authority area for a minimum period of time?

a.      If yes, how long is this period?

6.    How many people were registered as homeless or required homelessness prevention in your local authority area in the past 3 years, and of those how many were disabled people with a long term health condition? (please break down by year)

Response

1 - None, Hastings Borough Council does not have any council properties.

1a - N/A - see point 1 above.

2a - The Council does not have its own temporary accommodation, so therefore there is no actual policy. However, if a client requires emergency B&B then we do contact emergency B&Bs to find out if they have any rooms available which are wheelchair accessible.

3 Mobility Level - where a property is advertised for applicants with restricted mobility (Mobility Level One, Two or Three), priority will be given to applicants who require this type of property.

 Mobility Level One - Typically suitable for a person who uses a wheelchair full time, indoors and outdoors. The property will provide full wheelchair access throughout = Answer = 23 households

 Mobility Level Two - Typically suitable to a person with restricted walking ability and for those that may need to use a wheelchair for some of the time. The property will have internal and external level or ramped access, but some parts of the property may not be fully wheelchair accessible. Answer = 48 households

 Mobility Level Three - Typically suitable for a person able to manage two or three steps, but unable to manage steep gradients. The property may have adaptations to assist people with limited mobility. Answer = 281 households

For further information please see our Homemove Allocation Scheme 2012 (revised 2014) http://www.hastings.gov.uk/housing/social_housing/sussex_homemove/

4 None - We operate a choice base letting scheme where properties are advertised every 2 weeks. We are currently not in a bidding cycle.

5.Yes, 3 out of the last 5 years, or 5 out of the last 10 years, but we do have some exemptions, for further information on this please see our Homemove Allocation Scheme 2012 (revised 2014) http://www.hastings.gov.uk/housing/social_housing/sussex_homemove/

6. Please see information on https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness