Industry News


More wheelchair user homes could save public purse millions


New research has revealed that building more wheelchair user homes for disabled people, from children to adults over 66, could save the public purse millions over a 10 year period. In research commissioned by Habinteg


Housing Association, the London School of Economics (LSE) and Political Science Housing and Communities research group interviewed people from three household types and analysed publicly available data to discover the value to society and the economy of building new wheelchair user homes. Te research revealed that the additional


cost of building a wheelchair user home – instead of an accessible and adaptable home – for a typical disabled adult of working age is around £22,000, with the potential 10 year financial and social benefit to the individual and the public purse being around £94,000. For a household with a child who is a


wheelchair user, the 10 year economic and social benefit is around £66,000, with an additional cost of around £26,000 to build a new wheelchair user home.


Building more


wheelchair user homes could save the public purse millions over a 10 year period


For a typical older wheelchair user


household, the 10 year financial and social benefit is around £101,000, with a new wheelchair user home costing around an additional £18,000. Te positive impact on the public purse for


each household type benefits both national and local bodies. For local authorities, savings amount to around: £1,700 per year for a household with a disabled child; £4,800 for a household of working age, and £9,200 for a later year’s household. Te NHS also benefits by hundreds of pounds per household per year. New wheelchair accessible properties


(known as M4(3) in building regulations) are built when Local Plans set a target within their housing policies. At present of England’s 325 Local Plans, 162 have no target included for such homes.


£10m ‘green’ transformation for Salford tower blocks


A


pair of ageing Salford tower blocks are going ‘green’ as part of a multi-million pound eco-transformation.


Housing association Salix Homes has unveiled its


investment plans for neighbouring blocks Greyfriar Court and Whitefriar Court in the Greengate area of Salford. Te 14-storey high rise buildings will undergo


a £10m refurbishment, making them greener and more energy efficient. Te planned improvement work includes


external wall and roof insulation, new windows and ventilation; while the facade and balconies will be completely rendered and transformed. An eco-friendly ground source heating system


will also be installed, which, combined with the external insulation will improve the thermal efficiency of the building and help reduce energy bills for Salix Homes customers. Te state-of-the- art heating system works by harnessing the natural heat from the ground, rather than burning fuel to generate heat.


Orbit shares progress against sustainability commitments


Orbit, one of the UK’s affordable housing groups, has published its progress against its sustainability commitments in its 2022/23 Sustainability Report. Te Report details how the social housing


provider is working to meet people’s needs now, and in the future, while playing its part in the global response to climate change. Over the past 12 months, Orbit has made


22 | HMMOctober/November 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


positive progress in a number of key areas including reducing its carbon footprint by 14% (38.5% against its 2018/19 baseline), introducing its first sustainability-linked financing facility and delivering £19.2m worth of social value to its customers. In addition, Orbit also achieved its ISO14001:2015 certification for its environmental management system by the British Standards Institute (BSI).


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