The National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 – 2027
The National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 – 2027 is a framework to address the housing needs of disabled people in Ireland. It is informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and aims to promote accessible, affordable, and inclusive housing.
The strategy has six themes that address different aspects of housing and support for disabled people, outlined below.
Theme 1 – Accessible Housing and Communities
- Focuses on providing accessible housing and promoting universally designed homes.
- Is informed by the UNCRPD articles on living independently and accessibility.
- Aims to enable disabled people to live independently and have equal access to the physical environment.
Theme 2 – Interagency Collaboration and the Provision of Supports
- Aims to improve collaboration between local authorities, the Health Service Executive (HSE), and other relevant agencies, so that they can all work better together.
- Aims to make existing structures stronger and to improve co-operation so that housing and support services are more joined up and work towards the same goal.
Theme 3 – Affordability of Housing
- Focuses on enabling access to affordable housing for disabled people.
- Highlights the importance of including disabled people in affordable housing schemes, such as home ownership and private renting.
Theme 4 – Communication and Access to Information
- Focuses on improving communication and access to information for disabled people.
- Builds on previous good work on accessible information and aims to make sure that disabled people are not disadvantaged when communicating their needs.
Theme 5 – Knowledge, Capacity, and Expertise
- Aims to increase awareness and understanding of disability and housing within relevant organisations, such as local authorities and the HSE.
- Highlights the importance of building knowledge and expertise within the housing and health sectors to address the needs of disabled people in a better way.
Theme 6 – Strategy Alignment
- Aims to make sure that all government strategies and policies promote the rights of disabled people in line with the UNCRPD.
- Aims to align the National Housing Strategy with other disability-related strategies and policies to promote inclusion and effective participation.