Housing and Disability: The Facts DFI Factsheet - Housing
Issued on May 9 2017
Ireland is in a housing crisis. Many people with disabilities want to live in their own homes in the community. But many find it very difficult to find and then to stay living in suitable housing.
- 4,456 households qualified for social housing in 2016 linked to having one or more household members with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability.[1]
- Over 1000 people with disabilities under the age of 65 are living inappropriately in nursing homes for older people.[2] See one story here.
- 2,580 disabled people were still living in congregated settings, often called ‘institutions’, at the end of 2016.[3] See one story of moving from residential to individualised living here.
The Housing Adaptation Grant, HAG, assists people with disabilities and older persons to make changes to their home where they are having difficulty living in it because of its layout.
€59.8m has been allocated for HAG in 2017.[4] This is a welcome increase on the €45m allocated in Budget 2016. But a lot less than the €80m allocated in 2010.
The Capital Assistance Scheme, CAS, is a key source of funding for the delivery of specialist social housing.
- €86m was available for CAS in 2016, but ‘the final funding drawdown’ for year was only €37m, because ‘progress in 2016 was slower than expected’.[5]
- €66m is available for CAS in 2017.[6]
DFI’s focus is:
- Increasing funding for HAG and CAS.
- Increasing the amount of appropriate private and social housing.
- Reducing delays and blockages.
[1] The Housing Agency (2016) Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2016 http://bit.ly/2jry89Q pp. 10 and 16
[2] Per HSE data. In particular, as of August 2015, 1,047 people under the age of 65 are in receipt of NHSS funding (i.e. are in nursing homes)
[3] National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability Implementation Monitoring Group (2016) Third Report on Implementation: January – December 2016 http://bit.ly/2sJOIXW p. 13
[5] Simon Coveney Wednesday, 15 February 2017 PQ [7464/17]
[6] Simon Coveney Tuesday, 9 May 2017 PQ [21815/17]