Enabled in the housing market

Introducing the Disabled Persons Housing Service, an initiative underway locally and nationally to maximise the choice of housing for disabled people

19th March 2007 | Shirley Norton

The Disabled Persons Housing Service Aberdeen is a local charity offering housing advice and information to disabled people, their families and carers.

Its main aim is to assist disabled people who are looking for suitable housing in Aberdeen City either in the social rented sector, e.g council or housing association, or in the private sector through private landlords, estate agents and local housing developers.

Based within a Margaret Blackwood Housing Association development at 43 Raeden Court, Aberdeen, the DPHS provides a professional advice service to clients either at the office or, if required, via home visits to disabled clients.

Client details as well as their specific housing requirements are recorded on a registration form and held on a database.

The DPHS works closely with local landlords and has developed a database which holds details of all current and planned adapted, barrier-free and wheelchair-accessible properties. This enables clients to be “matched” with the most suitable properties when they become available either to rent or to buy.

Currently the majority of contact and property detail has come from social sector landlords, including the local council and the five leading housing associations in the city. However, DPHS Aberdeen is very keen to enter into discussion with local private landlords who can provide information on their properties, and these can be “matched” with disabled people who are seeking this type of accommodation.

Similarly, the DPHS is keen to discuss property details with local solicitors in Aberdeen who are acting in the sale of properties on the open market.

DPHS Aberdeen is currently in discussion with other DPHSs and related organisations in Scotland with a view to developing a national network of disability housing advice and advocacy services. Those involved are DPHS Fife, DPHS Aberdeenshire, DPHS Renfrew, Ownership Options and the Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living.

For further details of any of the above organisations, or to discuss DPHS Aberdeen, please call the Development Officer, Shirley Norton on phone/fax 01224 810222; email s.norton@dphsaberdeen.org