Just 7% of UK rental homes meet the most basic accessibility features
A staggering 93% of homes in the UK lack basic accessibility features – or are not listed as such – according to new research from stairlift and home lift company Stannah, revealing how many rental properties with inclusive design features are available in the UK’s top 20 biggest cities – far and few between.
Using Zoopla’s keyword function to filter properties by desirable features, Stannah analysed data for the terms “step-free access”, “wet room” and “level access” to find how many of the total rental properties available in each city met basic accessibility criteria.
The top 20 biggest UK cities analysed are: London, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Sheffield, Leicester, Kingston upon Hull, Derby, Coventry, Glasgow, Bradford, Newcastle upon Tyne and Southampton.
London has the highest number of properties meeting all three search terms. Of more than 43,000 rental properties available via Zoopla, 129 (0.3%) had step-free access, 158 (0.4%) featured a wet room and 133 (0.3%) had level access. Despite being the city with the most accessible properties available, the number of properties suitable for those with a physical disability is just 0.00002 per resident on average.
Manchester placed second in properties under “step-free access” - but with just three out of 1,718 properties (0.2%) available matching this term – and Leeds placed third with just two properties out of 1,062.
Properties in each UK city with wet rooms were more frequent according to the data, with Nottingham in second place behind London at 13 rental properties (0.8%) out of the city’s available 1,646. In third is Manchester with 10 properties (0.6%) featuring the adaptation.
Lastly, Stannah examined properties on Zoopla which met the term “level access”, meaning minimal steps for people with mobility issues to easily move around the home.
Following London was Manchester with three properties (0.2%) featuring level access, and Nottingham in third place with two properties meeting the criteria.
Of the 20 cities, four failed to display any results for the three search terms: Glasgow, Bradford, Newcastle and Southampton.
A spokesperson from Stannah says: “The data shows that, despite major cities displaying some rental properties available that may be suitable for disabled people, the number is nowhere near where it should be.
“It is likely that there are more rental properties available in these cities with accessible features than the data suggests, which may be due to landlords’ lack of knowledge on what information is important to highlight for people with access needs. More awareness is needed among landlords on what disabled and older house-hunters search for in a property and include relevant keywords such as ‘wheelchair accessible parking’, ‘step-free access’, ‘wet room’ and ‘level access’.
“For a disabled person living in a home that is not suitably adapted to their needs, the consequences could be severe. We still have a long way to go before accessible housing becomes the norm throughout the property market.”