Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Conclusion 12
Seventh Report - Disabled people in the housing sector
Published 24 May 2024
Paragraph 49
Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Disabled people in the housing sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Government-commissioned External Review of the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) in 2018 made several appropriate and valuable recommendations on DFG funding, eligibility, and the delivery process, based on comprehensive evidence. It is therefore deeply disappointing that the Government has not published a response to the Review and has not acted upon its main findings, despite prolonged calls for it to do so. The Government, in response to this Report, must therefore set out: • its response to each of the External Review’s recommendations in full; • what action it has already taken to address each recommendation in the Review since it was published in 2018; and • a timeline for the future implementation of each of the DFG reforms in line with those External Review recommendations which the Government accepts.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Seventh Report - Disabled people in the housing sector (HC 63), paragraph 49, 24 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 March 2025 (deadline 24 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government "notes the conclusion" of the inquiry, says disabled people "should not face barriers" to suitable housing, and responds to the recommendations with some commitments, some declined actions and several matters left for later announcement.
- On a mandatory M4(2) accessibility standard, the government "intends to set out its policies on the accessibility of new homes in the near future" and will give details of the necessary technical consultation then.
- On registers of accessible housing, the government "does not believe that mandating accessible housing registers is an appropriate action", but will "explore if further guidance, or clarification of existing guidance, is needed".
- On data on M4(2) and M4(3) homes, the government does not intend to require the new collection, saying it wants to reduce burdensome reporting requirements on local authorities.
- On the Disabled Facilities Grant, it is reviewing the £30,000 upper limit, expects the review "to conclude later in 2025", and "proposes to consult on a new formula during 2025" for allocating funding.