'My disabled son is a prisoner in his own home'

The mum of a severely disabled boy says a delay of more than a year to find a social house suitable to meet his needs is making him a prisoner in his own home.

Sonny, 16, from Lincolnshire, who is non-verbal and living with a condition that can be life-limiting, cannot use stairs on his own. His mum, Marie, said they had spent 14 months on a West Lindsey District Council waiting list for a fully wheelchair-accessible property.

"What if he leaves us before we get the chance to live some life with him? I would never forgive the council if that happens," she said.

The council said its officers would continue to work with the family to find a suitable property.

The teenager is registered blind and has learning difficulties, epilepsy, autism and homocystinuria – a rare metabolic disorder that can cause various health problems, including eye, bone and blood-clotting issues.

The family's privately rented home is a listed building and cannot be adapted sufficiently.

Marie, 49, said they needed a house that could be adapted to include step-free access, wide doorways, a wetroom and potentially a through-floor lift.

"Sonny going up and down the stairs is a risk to his life. Everything he loves involves us having to get him downstairs," she said.

"I do believe prisoners have better rights. They go out for an hour a day, Sonny doesn't. He struggles to get up and down the stairs, whether that's because he's unsteady or he's tired.

"He can sleep up to 24 hours a day and is stuck in a room that is roughly, I would imagine, the size of a prison cell."

She claims they have applied for about 15 houses on the council list and been successful on seven occasions, only to be told the adaptions could not be made.

"[The council] told us they're going to help us. They've told us we have to move for Sonny's safety but they're not giving us the means to do that," Marie added.

"It makes me feel angry, disappointed, upset and useless."

Christina McGill, from Habinteg Housing Association, which calls on communities to offer places that meet the needs of disabled people, said there was a "great shortage" of accessible homes and insufficient numbers were being built.

"The duty falls to local authorities to specify what types of new homes need to be built," she said.

"What we find is that sometimes developers can raise challenges because they perceive accessible homes can be more costly to deliver. Sometimes local planning teams accept those arguments."

The council said it was committed to ensuring housing within the district met the needs of all residents, including those requiring fully wheelchair-accessible homes.

"While our current housing waiting list has very few applicants needing fully adapted properties, we recognise the importance of delivering accessible housing options," it said.

"On average, we receive about 189 referrals for disabled facilities grants each year. In less than 2% of these cases, a property is deemed unsuitable for adaptation."

The council said part of the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan was to ensure all new properties would be designed to be more adaptable to future accessibility needs.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said the government was "determined to provide more accessible housing, as part of our ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes through our Plan for Change".

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