Here is the Disabled Person's situation:
The disabled person has a serious medical condition, lives in a fourth floor Westminster Council flat without a lift, and steep stairs. For the disabled person the stairs are impossible. Access to full time water is not available - apparently to fix that would be "an improvement" and not "a repair", meaning the disabled person has to fund the works for the provision of water, which the disabled person cannot afford. The disabled person's furniture is adapted, however equipment adaptations (i.e. kitchen worktops, sinks, shower, etc) aren't going to be adjusted because the disabled person has applied for rehousing. The disabled person cannot access the bathtub or the kitchen sink. The disabled person relies on others helping with basic groceries shopping, helping with strip/sponge wash and using the kitchen. These are just some of the issues - the list goes on. Westminster Council has placed the disabled person on their rehousing waiting list, awarding me Mobility Category 3, with 200 points.Here's the problem the disabled person is facing:
Those who are downsizing social housing, let's say from 2 bedrooms to 1 bedroom, are placed in Cash-Incentive scheme and are automatically awarded Mobility 3 (irrelevant as to whether they are healthy or not), and are awarded the maximum number of points which is 550. Section 3.1.5, page 39 of this Westminster Council document.On 21/08/2013 an email was sent to Lettings Officer at Westminster Housing Options Service asking;
"Can you please advice me what restrictions are in place to stop healthy people who are granted automatic Mobility 3 with 550 points under the Cash Incentive scheme from bidding on Mobility 3 properties suitable for those unable to climb stairs?"
The Lettings Officer at Westminster Housing Options replied on the same day stating the following;
"None I'm afraid. We will always prioritise Cash Incentive applicants when it comes to bidding; hence why they receive mobility 3 and 550 points to enable them to bid successfully for properties if they so wish (and many do refuse). We are in dire need of larger size accommodation for homeless and overcrowded families. It may appear unfair but apart from new properties being built or people leaving of their own accord; this is how we and other local authorities are able to meet our housing duty towards families."
It is easy to understand that Westminster is short of social housing and that this frees up two or more bedroom flats. However, this places one bed flats in greater demand. So where does this put a disabled person who is only able to bid for properties under Mobility 3 category due to difficulty with stairs, but those properties being swept away by healthy people placed in Mobility 3 category just because they have been luckier in life to obtain larger assets? The number of 1 bed/studio properties advertised for bidding under Mobility Category 3 are rare and few as it is, so with healthy people being able to take them on the grounds of downsizing, this means a disabled person does not have a fair chance, or a chance at all. Is this not disability discrimination on a grand scale?
 |
| Westminster Council flat advertised for bidding as a 1 Bedroom flat on 'Week 19' for those who are unable to manage stairs. |
The Mobility 3 flat was awarded to a Cash-Intensive bidder with 550 points, irrelevant whether the bidder was healthy or not, and automatically discriminating against those people with actual medical conditions and difficulties with stairs.
 |
| Bidding result for Westminster Council Mobility 3 flat, published two weeks later. |
With the demolitions of blocks in estates like Tollgate Gardens it means that bidding for a disabled persons not from that estate is heavily restricted due to the decants' need of rehousing and decants with Mobility 3 also get 400-450 points, rather than just 200 points, which means they will override the disabled person with 200 points on the list. We all empathise with the decant situation, but having healthy people under Cash-Incentive scheme being prioritised over those who have a genuine medical need is both, insensitive and negligent. A disabled person is forced to become even more disabled simply due to their living circumstances being so unsuitable, and it seems that disabled people will simply not be able to get around it. And that is appalling!
In the case of this particular person, their Social Services case worker also looked into making a rehousing recommendation under the Social Services Nomination scheme, which would speed up the process for the person with the medical priority, as it would grant the person 400 points (see page 25). However, Westminster Housing Options informed the case worker that Social Services referring the client to Housing will not increase any points in any way and there is no advantage with the case worker doing a referral. (Please note: Westminster Housing has on numerous occasions misinformed me providing me misleading information, which I have on record, and what they say may or may not be true.)
There is further opinion that the council is not as "transparent" as they claim to be. During 'Week 20' a Mobility 3 studio flat went on the publicly available PDF advert, however, once logged in to bid, the flat had mysteriously disappeared and it was not available on the system.
 |
| Mobility 3 flat advertised as a property for those who cannot manage stairs was not accessible to bid on. |
A phone call to Westminster Council to inquire about this property did not convince the disabled person that she received a straight answer. What is publicly portrayed by Westminster Council may not necessarily be true.
The Lettings Officer from Westminster Housing Options Service further confirmed by email that the "aim is to house just 4 applicants from the list this financial year". With the person on the Medical Priority waiting list, who's health is deteriorating to an irreversible effect due to unacceptable and unsuitable living standards and equipment, being in "position 46 on the list" it could be "several years" before the person is rehoused. At the same time healthy people are able to successfully bid on Mobility 3 properties suitable for those unable to manage stairs and be awarded those properties - because the council have previously failed to create and implement a successful long-term strategy to better manage their housing stock and place control barriers on occupancy levels to reduce under-occupancy.
Today, it is the disabled person who is punished for the council's flops.
Further discrimination and contradictions from Westminster Housing Options Service
Westminster Housing Options Service have further demonstrated their disregard for disabled people and people with mobility problems by suggesting the following to a person with an urgent medical need awarded Mobility 3 medical priority in line with the need for rehousing:
"My advice is to bid often where possible and be very flexible in your choice of areas."
So how does this affect the disabled person?
The disabled person who already has mobility problems is asked to move further away from access to employment and other activities. Instead of supporting disabled people and people with serious medical conditions by placing them closer to employment and possibilities in life, they are shunned away and expected to live in isolation and silence, asking for nothing but air. Many disabled people will have a very hard time commuting during the peak hour on public transport. At the same time, during these hard economic times, disabled people are facing benefit cuts and heavy pressures into seeking employment. So what's the housing solution? - 1) Shove them into the suburbs of London and expect them to commute to work unreasonable distances; or 2) tell them to ignore their skills and education and seek unskilled work in their local community because they are unable to commute long distances. - This, while awarding Mobility 3 properties to healthy people without any genuine medical priority on the basis of the hugely discriminatory Cash-Intensive scheme.
Here are anonymous examples expressing direct interest from recruitment consultants in employing a person with a severe medical condition placed on the Mobility 3 medical priority list for rehousing.
 |
| Example 1 |
 |
| Example 2 |
Considering any job opportunities would be impossible for someone with mobility restrictions, while having to negotiate 8 flights of stairs from a 4th floor flat without a lift, as well as public transport on daily basis if employed.
Furthermore, a person with a severe medical condition on the Medical Priority waiting list, who is likely to require more space for their specialist furniture, disability tools and equipment, or event treatment programs including exercises, is far less likely to successfully bid and receive a one bedroom property, despite being placed in the queue for 1 Bed properties. In order to get rehoused, the disabled person would have to make a compromise and bid for Mobility 3 studio properties, which are far more achievable, because usually the bigger one-bed Mobility 3 properties are collected by the bidders on the Cash-Intensive scheme who are automatically awarded Mobility 3 Medical Priority irrelevant whether they are healthy or not.
And last but not least, as the Mobility 3 flats are prioritised for Cash-Incentive applicants, those in genuine medical need have no choice then but to consider the Affordable Rent properties from housing associations, sometimes charging as much as £255 a week for a studio, in comparison to a council flat charging around £130 for equivalent. The vulnerable disabled person who is far less likely to acquire such finances is forced into a much higher priced accommodation than the healthy person if they wish to be rehoused within a reasonable period of time.
The issue would be solved, if each person in the Medical Priority group were individually assessed to understand their specific needs and possibilities and were offered Mobility 3 properties to those having actual difficulties with climbing stairs and not to healthy people under the Cash-Incentive scheme.
Please visit this post soon on comments relating to Disability Discrimination and breach of Human Rights.
