The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that there should be equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing.

Many disabled and older people – particularly those who use wheelchairs – cannot find a home that suits them. It is estimated that there are 14.6 million disabled people in the UK: 22% of the population. Wheelchairs are used by around 1.2 million people.

The 2016 English Housing Survey calculated that only 7% of homes are accessible.

Only 32% of planning authorities surveyed in 2018 had committed to building even a proportion of accessible housing, and only 18% to a proportion of housing built to Category 3 standard, Building Regulation M4(3).

The London and Liverpool Plans (best in class) require those authorities to ensure that 100% of new homes meet at least M4(2), Category 2 standard, with 10% at Category 3.

In July 2022 the government announced it would make Category 2 the national minimum standard for nearly all new homes.

We need to build more accessible homes and more homes accessible for wheelchair users.

We need to enforce policies in Local Plans that cover both social and private housing.

As a minimum, every new home should be suitable for disabled or older people to move into or to age in place, i.e. M4(2) standard.

• The government should commit to M4(2) as standard for all new housing.

• Local plans should be required to build 10% of new homes, social and private, to Category 3 standard.