Accessible housing, a gap Northland can no longer ignore – Jonny Wilkinson

Accessible housing should not be an afterthought. It should be part of how we design communities from the start. Photo / 123rf

THE FACTS

• Accessible housing is crucial, yet many homes are not designed with accessibility in mind.
• The Laura Fergusson Trust plans to develop over 160 accessible homes, integrating them within communities.
• Eligibility for social housing requires urgent need assessment, leaving many disabled individuals invisible in the system.

For years, I lived in a home in Onerahi that I loved for its incredible harbour views.

From the house, you could look out across the water toward the Whangārei Harbour, watching the tide roll in and out across the mudflats and channels, with boats moving slowly through the harbour entrance.

I always thought Mt Manaia looked so Jurassic; I would imagine King Kong climbing over the top of it.

It also had a kitchen built around my needs, equipped with a drawbridge where I could slide pots of molten lava from the stove to the sink in relative safety.

But the house came with its own challenges that many people never have to think about.

For example, when you opened the door, you were faced straight away with a long, steep flight of stairs.

This was because the house was perched on a section that had a 45-degree slope.

To cope with this, going down the stairs, I would sit on the top step, lean back and launch myself into a luge-style flight down the stairs.

Not very dignified. On the way up, I had double railings where I would methodically climb hand over hand up the stairs, reminding myself of King Kong again.

It was a daily reminder that many homes are designed without accessibility in mind.

Many disabled people in our region are left with difficult choices. Many disabled people live with their ageing parents, who are well into their 80s. This living situation is precarious, as often a crisis will happen with one or both parents and there are no options available.

According to Disability Support Services statistics, over 60 disabled people who are under the age of 65 live in aged-care homes in Northland. This is so inappropriate, on many levels and is largely because suitable housing alternatives simply do not exist.

For many people with physical disabilities, housing is not just about affordability – it is about basic access. Accessible housing is about whether you can enter the house, use the bathroom and move about freely.

These homes should not be limited to those who can afford expensive, bespoke builds. Everyone deserves the opportunity to live in homes that are safe, accessible and located within the communities they love.

This is where Community Housing Providers (CHPs) can play an important role. CHPs are organisations approved by the Government to develop and manage social housing outside the state housing system. Once registered through the Community Housing Regulatory Authority, they can partner with Government to provide homes where tenants pay income-related rent through the Income Related Rent Subsidy.

Northland does have a number of registered CHPs delivering social and affordable housing. However, most social housing developments focus on general housing needs, rather than homes specifically designed for people with physical disabilities.

In fact, among the registered providers operating in Northland, only the Whangārei Accessible Housing Trust is specifically focused on accessible housing.

This is why the recent announcement that the Laura Fergusson Trust has become a registered Community Housing Provider is significant. The trust has already committed substantial philanthropic funding towards developing more than 160 purpose-built, accessible homes over the next several years.

Its model is simple but powerful: small clusters of fully accessible homes integrated within ordinary communities, allowing people with physical disabilities to live independently with the right support, rather than being forced into institutional settings.

For regions like Northland, where disabled people are spread across rural communities and smaller towns, this kind of approach could make a real difference.

However, there’s a hitch – and quite a big one.

In order to be eligible for social housing provided by a Community Housing Provider, you need to be on the social housing register. And in order to be on that register, you must be assessed by Work and Income as having an urgent housing need.

Many disabled adults currently living with ageing parents do not meet that threshold, meaning they remain largely invisible within the system – as too do disabled people under the age of 65 living in aged-care homes.

Both of these situations are untenable and need to be recognised.

There needs to be a mechanism within the Work and Income assessment process that takes these situations into account.

If this isn’t in place, the powers that be are not getting the full picture of society’s most vulnerable cohort.

Accessible housing should not be an afterthought. It should be part of how we design communities from the start. Accessible housing should not be a niche concept. It should be the default.