This paper seeks to identify the barriers impeding Disabled people’s access to safe and secure
housing, and to evaluate the extent to which UK law and government policy mitigates their
harm. To provide context, the author revisits the atrocities experienced by Disabled people
during the Second World War and the international measures taken in the aftermath of that war.
The paper briefly reviews the evolution of the medical and social models of disability,
considering how they inform domestic and international legal instruments. The discussion then
turns to financial barriers facing Disabled people including additional costs, low employment
and the scarcity of accessible housing. The paper explores the impact of welfare reform to the
financial support available to Disabled people and the challenges when invoking the reasonable
adjustment duty. Subsequently the focus turns to hidden disabilities: the prevalence of
comorbidity; the debate surrounding the inclusion of substance dependency as a mental illness;
and the unique challenges facing those with dual diagnosis. The paper will then evaluate key
government approaches to homelessness since 1990, their economic and political context and
the extent to which they have addressed homelessness. To conclude, the author will challenge
the assumption that homelessness is the scourge of individuals who society has a moral duty to
assist. They will argue instead that homelessness is a symptom of structural inequality and it is
in addressing these harms that homelessness can be prevented for the most part and individuals’
economic, social and cultural human rights can be realised.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)