Accessible and Affordable Housing

Accessible housing does exist, as does affordable housing, but accessible and affordable housing can be difficult to find. However, accessibility needs to be affordable. According to the Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute, low wages and insufficient Supplemental Security Income (SSI) "price out" disabled renters of housing at higher rates than non-disabled renters, and nearly half of adults who have lived in poverty for a year or more are disabled [1]. Jessicah Pierre, for Inequality.org, writes, "accessibility is still treated as a luxury rather than as a necessity," especially in places like Massachusetts where new housing developments need to meet accessibility standards but are generally luxury housing, while affordable housing is generally pre-ADA [2]. Affordability is essential when many workplaces aren't physically accessible, driving up unemployment rates.

Nearly 25% of unhoused people are disabled, according to point-in-time counts from 2019 [1]. For those who are able to rent a home, only 6% of homes are accessible, but 15% of households have someone with a disability [3]. From these disabled renters, 7 million are moderately or severely cost burdened by rent, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent [1]. In 2012, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment was 104% of the average SSI payment [4], which, for many, is their primary or only source of income, and rent has only increased.

Because most housing is inaccessible, there are accessible housing shortages and price increases. Ableism, discrimination, and a lack of social safety-nets contribute to the increased likelihood of disabled people experiencing poverty. These two issues compound each other, worsening the situation. While large-scale housing developments are required to have a percentage of accessible housing, the minimum percentage is still less than the amount of people who need accessible housing. In Massachusetts, only Boston requires housing developments to "make any link between affordable and accessible units" [2]. COVID-19 has also worsened the shortage of affordable housing, and BIPOC and people with disabilities have been especially impacted, not to mention those in the intersection of these two identities.

However, there are many possible policies that could help increase the availability of affordable accessible housing. This include requiring a greater percentage of accessible housing, prioritizing the surety of disabled people being able to live in their communities instead of being institutionalized, and investing in affordable accessible housing (both in new housing developments and in improving older housing). More broadly, increasing renter protections (such as the right to counsel) and ensuring that people with disabilities are less likely to live in poverty by increasing SSI, ending asset limits, ending subminimum wage, and/or implementing other measures could help the issue.

Sources

1. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/recognizing-addressing-housing-insecurity-disabled-renters/

2. https://inequality.org/great-divide/accessible-affordable-housing/

3. https://abundanthousingla.org/housing-inaccessibility-for-people-with-disabilities/

4. https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/blog/tough-choices-people-with-disabilities-face-housing-crisis/

5. https://www.accessliving.org/defending-our-rights/accessible-affordable-integrated-housing/

6. https://nlihc.org/resource/shortage-affordable-available-and-accessible-rental-homes#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20shortage%20of,incomes%20on%20rent%20and%20utilities.