Assessments for accessible housing

When you apply for accessible housing, your local council assessment does not consider your level of impairment. It looks at:

• how your current housing affects your condition and
• whether it would improve if you lived somewhere more accessible

If you are not a social housing tenant

If you are a social housing tenant

This means you do not rent a home from your local council or a housing association. You might rent from a private landlord instead.

You usually start by filling out an application form to get on the housing register. The housing register is also called a housing waiting list.

Most forms are online, but you can ask for a paper form instead. Contact your local council for a version that fits your needs.

The form may have questions about your health, or the council may ask you to fill in a separate form.

Apply for council housing (GOV.UK)

How to apply for council housing (Shelter)

Most forms can take a long time to fill in. There is help and advice if you need it.

Get housing advice and support

You are a social housing tenant if you rent your home from your local council or a housing association.

If your condition has changed and you can no longer independently live in your home, speak to your housing officer.

This person may also be called a neighbourhood officer. Contact your local council housing department if you need to find out who your housing officer is.

Find your local council (GOV.UK)

Ask them to assess you. They will say how they will do this and decide if you should transfer to housing that better fits your needs.

You will need to fill in an application form. Most forms are online, but you can ask the council:

• to send you a paper form
• to email you a form in a Word document or Easy Read to print out
• if you can apply over the phone

Your council wants to find out if you can live independently in your current home.

The application form has space for you to write about how your housing affects you. Give examples and be as specific as you can.

If there is an OT involved in your care, they may be able to:

• work with you to identify what you are struggling with and
• show you how to describe it

Your local council may ask you to send evidence of how your current home does not meet your needs. They might also call this supporting documents.

You can ask professionals who know you to write a support letter describing how they do not think your housing is suitable for you. 

For example, your:

• GP
• hospital consultant
• occupational therapist (OT)
• wheelchair assessment team
• physiotherapist
• mental health worker
• social worker

Ask them to be as specific as they can about how your housing affects you. It is not always possible for professionals to visit you at home. But if they have, this can help your application.

The council may ask you to:

• upload the evidence to an online account
• send the evidence through the post

Check with them how you should submit it.

You can ask for adjustments if you need them.

Asking for reasonable adjustments

You can ask to have an assessment at home or a home check, but it is rare.

Housing officers usually make their decision by:

• looking at the information and evidence you have sent them and
• speaking to the professionals who have written letters

If they come to your home, they will want to observe if and how you can:

• enter and leave your home
• move around your home
• use the kitchen
• use the bathroom

The bedroom tax can affect you if you are below State Pension age and you rent from your local authority or a housing association.

It is a rule that limits the number of bedrooms that:

• Universal Credit or
• Housing Benefit

can pay the rent for.

If you get an exemption from the bedroom tax rule, that means your benefits will be enough to pay for an extra bedroom.

You may be eligible if you need a carer to stay overnight. You must also be receiving certain disability benefits.

Exemptions (people who are allowed their own room)

Your council may also do an assessment to see if you are eligible for exemption. This is not usually the same assessment to see if you are eligible for accessible housing.

Contact your local council to find out how to apply for an exemption. They will tell you where the assessment will happen.

Find your local council (GOV.UK)

Your council may take several months to make their decision about accessible housing. The decision will say:

• if you are eligible for accessible housing
• which housing band you are in
• how many bedrooms you qualify for
• the date you joined the housing register

If you are an existing social tenant, you might have an online account with the housing department. Your decision may come through the account.

You can also ask for the decision:

• in writing
• over the phone

How the council makes their decision

Every council has a housing allocations policy or housing allocations scheme. This shows the rules that decide:

• who can apply for housing through the council and
• the priority of who is allocated housing

Their decision will follow these rules. You can contact them and ask them to send you:

• the whole policy or
• a summary of the policy

You can read it to check if you are in the right housing band.

Find your local council (GOV.UK)

You can:

• contact the housing department to tell them you think you are in the wrong band
• ask for a home visit if you have not had one
• appeal their decision within 21 days of you receiving the decision letter

It is good to email if you can. This means you have a record of:

• what you wrote
• when you contacted the council

If you phone them, ask the person you call to put a note on your file that you have contacted them.

Challenge a council housing register decision (Shelter)

There are organisations that can tell you about how housing works in your area. You can contact your local:

• Shelter office
• Citizens Advice