Bradford MP Judith Cummins fears lack of housing for the city's disabled and elderly

Bradford South MP Judith Cummins recently visited disabled & elderly tenants at a local Bradford housing scheme to learn more about the dignity of being able to live independently. Located at Kestrel Close, Westwood Park, this local disabled & elderly housing scheme is owned and operated by Habinteg, one of the country's leading housing associations, with over 40 years of experience in helping people to live independently. Habinteg's Chief Executive Paul Gamble, and Kate Royce, Housing Manager of Habinteg' Bradford division were there to welcome Judith and to explain the benefits of having an independent living scheme within Bradford. As part of her visit, Judith had the opportunity to speak to two residents who shared heart-felt stories about their sense of dignity & well-being from being able to live independently rather than in a communal housing development. Habinteg Housing Association specialises in providing housing that caters for the needs of disabled & elderly tenants, by designing all their houses to the nationally  recognised Lifetime Homes Standard. With this building standard all newly built homes are future proofed and are easily adaptable. For example, they must guarantee that all hallways and doorways are wide enough to accommodate mobility devices such as walking frames. The Lifetime Homes Standard not only helps tenants to live independently, it also helps to save taxpayer's money at a time of widespread budget cuts. As housing built to the Lifetime Homes Standard is easily adaptable, it means Local Council's spend less on costly home adaptions, and just as importantly, the NHS sees less injuries from trips & falls as the building design is much safer. Judith said " There are 11.6 million disabled people in Britain, and this number is growing each and every year. We all have friends and family who are getting older, and many who due to illness are disabled or have reduced mobility. At this time, however, only 6% of homes provide even basic accessibility features. Even more worryingly, only 31% of new housing is being built to the Lifetime Homes Standard. More must be done to make sure all developers follow in Habinteg's footsteps by guaranteeing that their housing developments are future proofed. I will be pressing the Government Minister in charge to do the common sense thing, by making sure all new housing must meet the Lifetime Homes Standard."