National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011 - 2016

8.32 In assessing and planning to meet this need, it is vital that there is close liaison, bothwithin, and between housing authorities and other statutory and voluntary agencies. Whereit is identified in the housing assessment process that an applicant has particular needs, thehousing authority should establish design requirements to address these needs, and plan forthese in the design and construction / adaptation of housing. Any funding implications i.e.identified cost implications or issues which are likely to give rise to increased costs, shouldbe taken into consideration at the planning stage and sufficient resources allocated byhousing authorities. The proposed tenant should be involved at the stage of internal designand to ensure that fixtures and fittings are positioned to suit individual need. In the case ofchildren with specific design needs, such consultation should include ongoingcommunication with the child’s parents/family. For children with disabilities, it is importantthat their current and future needs are central to the process of allocating housing tofamilies. It is recognised that the development of once off housing design can create a timelapse between the identification of the need and the realisation and occupation of theaccommodation. To address this, it is essential that longer term planning mechanisms areutilised to identify future need, e.g. the strategic assessment of need protocol, which willaim to identify the current and future extent of local housing need of people withdisabilities, will assist in this regard.8.33 As a mechanism to increase the stock of accessible social housing, considerationshould be given to the inclusion of a range of basic accessibility provisions, to make housingvisitable, as part of social housing improvement programmes which provide for theretrofitting of insulation and improvements in energy efficiency of vacant properties.Furthermore, where vacant social housing has been identified for improvements under theretrofitting programme, consideration could be given to the undertaking of a more extensivesuite of accessibility works, where it has been identified that the house, once improved,would be suitable to meet the needs of a disabled household on the local authority housingwaiting list. This should be managed through the allocations process. Furthermore, it isimportant that capital funding be prioritised for the undertaking of adaptation works for localauthority tenants who have disabilities.8.34 Work has been ongoing in the area of specific needs design, e.g. Dublin City Councilhas developed a generic wheelchair accessible unit design template giving a unit footprintsize while allowing for personal preference in the interior design and placement of fixturesand fittings which could be used as a template to facilitate the creation of a supply ofwheelchair accessible housing which can alleviate the time lapse. Furthermore, the IWA, inits good practice guidelines, Designing Accessible Environments, sets out their guidelines forlifetime adaptable housing design. These guidelines have extended the Joseph Rowntreestandards, particularly regarding bathroom provision.94