For many disabled people, independent living can be assisted with peer support.

Peer support is a supportive relationship between people who have shared experiences. It is based on the knowledge that disabled people are experts in recognising the barriers they face and the means in which such barriers can be tackled.

As part of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People, The Housing Agency has examined national and international examples of peer support models and explored what supports are currently available in Ireland and how, if necessary, they can be adapted or expanded to assist disabled people to live independent lives in their community.

The report, Peer Support Models, Examining models both nationally and internationally,  finds that the value of lived experience has been acknowledged as an integral component in assisting marginalised groups such as disabled people to live independently.

Read the full report here

As part of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP), The Housing Agency has developed an Information and Communication Strategy following consultation with various stakeholders.

The purpose of the Strategy is to promote the use of accessible information and communication methods that are more inclusive of the specific requirements of disabled people. It allows organisations to put practices in place that will assist them to become more accessible and inclusive, and foster an environment of ongoing learning and development.

Read the Information and Communication Strategy here - Information and Communication Strategy. 

New National Housing Strategy for Disabled People

The second National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 – 2027 was published on 14th January 2022 by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) with the Department of Health (DoH) and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY).

 

The second Strategy to 2027 will build on the considerable achievements of the 2011 Strategy, continuing the journey of the last 10 years which saw many people with disabilities allocated suitable housing, new structures developed to align housing provision with needed health and social care supports, progress made on decongregation into community residential care and increasing awareness and understanding of disability and housing within housing and disability services.

 

The 2022 Strategy re-echoes the vision of the first Strategy with a particular emphasis on disabled people having choice and control over their living arrangements. It seeks ‘to facilitate disabled people to live independently with the appropriate choices and control over where, how and with whom they live, promoting their inclusion in the community; and to further enable equal access for disabled people to housing with integrated support services’.

 

This new Strategy has been developed to clearly present Government’s vision for housing for disabled people:

• by the three key Departments involved
• following a comprehensive 8-month, 2-phase consultation including online focus groups held with the Disability Participation and Consultation Network
• to support and strengthen the co-operation and collaboration of Government departments, state agencies, local authorities and others in delivering housing and related supports for disabled people over the next five years

 

A thematic approach to delivery is set out in the Strategy with each theme having desired outcomes that when delivered will contribute to the overall vision. The six themes include accessible housing and communities and affordability of housing alongside themes related to further developing knowledge, capacity and expertise across the sector and collaboration between the policy and delivery partners across the State. Key elements of progress from the 2011 Strategy in the new 2022-2027 Strategy are:

• The Vision for the new Strategy has evolved from the first Strategy and, driven by the feedback to the consultation, now places independent living and being included in the community at its centre
• The new Strategy aligns with the principles and provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and implementation of the new Strategy will be monitored through a UNCRPD lens
• the structures that were established under the first Strategy, and which are widely regarded as being key to the progress made, have been reviewed and the new Strategy seeks to improve their operation and overall effectiveness.

 

Attention now turns to work on the very important Implementation Plan for the Strategy, the preparation of which will be overseen by The Housing Agency, and to be published by mid-year, detailing how outcomes will be achieved. Pending development of the Implementation Plan, a number of Actions requiring immediate progress are included by Theme.

 

The suite of documents accompanying the Strategy can be found below.

• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027 (Word Version)
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027 Executive Summary

 

• An Straitéis Tithíochta Náisiúnta do Dhaoine faoi Mhíchumas 2022 - 2027
• An Straitéis Tithíochta Náisiúnta do Dhaoine faoi Mhíchumas 2022 - 2027 Achoimre Fheidhmeach

 

• National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2022 - 2027 Easy Read Version
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People Executive Summary 2022-2027 Plain English
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 - 2027 Consultation Report

 

• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 - 2027 Implementation Plan
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 - 2027 Implementation Plan Easy Read Version
• National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 - 2027 Implementation Plan Accessible Word Version

 

Supplementary Documents: 

• Analysis of Households with a Disability Basis of Need for Social Housing
• Collaborative Working in the Housing and Disability Steering Groups
• Disability and Housing: Approaches in Other Jurisdictions
• Review of the National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011-2016 (extended to 2021)

 

 

Audio Version of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People Strategy Document

01 - Disability Terminology

02 - Foreword & Contents

03 - Executive Summary & Overview of Themes

04 - Introduction

05 - Section 1 - Chapter 1 - National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011 - 2016 (extended to 2021)

06 - Chapter 2 - National Disability Inclusion Strategy

07 - Chapter 3 - Progress on UNCRPD

08 - Chapter 4 - Policy Context

09 - Section 2 - Chapter 5 - Statistical Overview

10 - Chapter 6 - Research on Models and Practices

11 - Chapter 7 - Consultation

12 - Section 3 - Chapter 8 - The Strategy and the United Nations

13 - Chapter 9 - Vision and Themes

14 - Chapter 9 - Themes

15 - Section 4 - Chapter 10 - Implementation Plan

16 - Chapter 11 - Implementation Structures

17 - Chapter 12 - Monitoring and Data Collection

18 - Appendix 1 - Membership of the National Advisory Group

19 - Appendix 2 - Glossary of Terms

20 - Appendix 3 - References | The Housing Agency

Audio Version of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People Executive Summary

00 Terminology, Contents, Timelines

01 Introduction

02 Housing For All

03 The Strategy and the UNCRPD

04 Themes

05 Implementation Plan

Audio Version of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People Strategy Easy to Read Version

01 Introduction

02 Section 1 - What Has Been Done

03 Section 2 - Where We Are Now

04 Section 3 - Where We Want To Get To

05 Section 4 - How We Will Get There

06 Data Collection

Audio Version of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People Strategy Implementation Plan

01 - Contents

02 - Introduction

03 - The Vision

04 - National Housing Policy

05 - Mapping of Housing and Disability Policy

06 - Themes

07 - Implementation Structures

08 - Update on the Implementation of the Strategy

09 - Funding Committments

10 - Theme 1 - Accessible Housing and Communities

11 - Theme 2 - Interagency Collaboration and the Provision of Supports

12 - Theme 3 - Affordability of Housing

13 - Theme 4 - Communication and Access to Information

14 - Theme 5 - Knowledge, Capacity, and Expertise

15 - Theme 6 - Strategy Alignment

 

The Housing Agency has produced a roadmap which provides a pathway towards the information required to make informed decisions about better design, and to enable access, in a structured and easily understood way, to the standards and guidance required to ensure that every person has a home that is appropriate to their needs. It is underpinned by the existing regulatory environment, compliance with which is mandatory, as it applies.

This report was jointly commissioned by the Housing Agency and the Health Services Executive. These housing design guidelines assist those living with persistent mental health conditions. This is the first time any such design guidelines targeting this cohort of the population have been produced anywhere in the world. The Housing Agency and the HSE have drawn together best practice in home design for people living with enduring and life altering mental health conditions into design guidelines to help facilitate independent living.

View Document

 

 

This report presents the findings of a Review Group which was convened by the Housing Agency to examine the Older Persons and Disability Grant Schemes for Private Houses and makes recommendations as to how the Grants can become more focused and targeted to those most in need.

View Document

 

This report, commissioned by the Housing Agency, is part of a series of three studies examining housing issues for people with disabilities, to inform the Housing Strategy for People with a Disability.  The report reviews the potential role of the private rented sector in the provision of accommodation for people with a disability.  The study includes interviews with stakeholder organisations, people with disabilities, landlords and letting agents.

View Document

 

This report, commissioned by the Housing Agency, is part of a series of three studies examining housing issues for people with disabilities, to inform the Housing Strategy for People with a Disability.  The report is a review of support options for people with mental health and housing related needs.  The research includes interviews with stakeholders and case study visits. 

View Document

 

 

This report, commissioned by the Housing Agency,  is part of a series of three studies examining housing issues for people with disabilities, to inform the Housing Strategy for People with a Disability.  The report is a review of good practice models in the provision of housing and related supports, and identifies four cornerstones of good practice: housing design, planned response to need, inter-agency co-operation and effective information provision.

View Document

 

This report by the Housing Agency provides an evaluation of the housing adaptation grant schemes for older people and people with a disability to examine the effectiveness of the new schemes and to make recommendations for any necessary improvements. 

View Document