Appropriate housing is a key element of independent living for disabled people, yet research evidence confirms the continuing, often negative, impact of unsuitable housing on their lives. This article examines access to social rented housing as a route to independent living, through a study of lettings practice for accessible and adapted homes. Drawing on the social and social-relational models of disability, the study adopted a disabled-led, co-production approach. Qualitative research methods were used to compare social landlord practice and track home seeker/tenant experiences. While housing providers were proactive in reviewing policy and practice to better meet the housing needs of disabled people, there remained some ‘distance’ between landlord goals and applicant experiences. Disabled people’s extended lived experience of inappropriate housing, while waiting for a more accessible home, impacted negatively on their quality of life and physical and mental health. Social lettings policies and practice were necessarily complex, but often difficult for applicants to understand. The complexity of disabled people’s housing needs meant that the matching process for suitable housing was also complex, often requiring individualised solutions. Recommendations to improve practice include making better use of technology to improve data on accessible/adapted properties and applicant needs; flexibility in lettings practice to facilitate effective matches; and flexibility in fully recognising disabled people’s housing and independent living needs. Social rented housing remains an important mechanism for achieving disabled people’s independence. Explicit recognition of the social-relational interpretation of disability could deliver more inclusive lettings practice and achieve more sustainable tenancies.

中文翻译：

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包容性社会租赁实践：改善残疾人独立生活的机会

适当的住房是残疾人独立生活的关键因素，但是研究证据证实，不合适的住房对他们的生活造成持续的，往往是负面的影响。本文通过对无障碍和改建房屋的租赁实践研究，考察了获得社会出租房屋的途径，以此作为实现独立生活的途径。该研究利用残疾的社会和社会关系模型，采用了残疾人主导的共同生产方法。定性研究方法被用来比较房东的社会实践并追踪家庭寻求者/房客的经历。尽管住房提供者积极审查政策和实践以更好地满足残疾人的住房需求，但房东的目标与申请人的经历之间仍然存在“距离”。残疾人长期居住在不适当住房中的经验，而他们却在等待更方便的住房，这对他们的生活质量以及身心健康产生了负面影响。社会出租政策和做法必然很复杂，但对于申请人而言通常很难理解。残疾人住房需求的复杂性意味着适合住房的匹配过程也很复杂，通常需要个性化的解决方案。改善实践的建议包括更好地利用技术来改善有关可访问/适应的物业和申请人需求的数据；允许练习的灵活性，以促进有效的比赛；充分认识残疾人的住房和独立生活需求的灵活性。社会出租房仍然是实现残疾人独立的重要机制。对残疾的社会关系解释的明确承认可以提供更具包容性的租赁实践并实现更可持续的租约。