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300,000 Disabled People in Britain Live in Unfit Housing: Report

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Wilson Hulley of Chevy Chase, Md., and his service dog Laurel leave at the end of the New England Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) graduation for dogs who assist the deaf and disabled at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center - Sputnik International
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The Leonard Cheshire Disability charity accused the UK government of prioritizing the requests of developers over the needs of disabled people and creating obstacles for local authorities to push for disabled-friendly housing standards.

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MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) — Around 300,000 disabled people in Britain are waiting to be moved to houses that would correspond to their needs, the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity said in a report published Monday.

"While 300,000 disabled people are stuck on housing waiting lists across Great Britain, developers are blocking attempts to make sure the right homes are built for our population. In effect, we are putting industry interests before the health and wellbeing of our society," the report published on charity's website read.

The charity accused the government of prioritizing the requests of developers over the needs of disabled people and creating obstacles for local authorities to push for disabled-friendly housing standards.

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As well as blaming local governments and councils for failing to cater to the needs of disabled people, the Leonard Cheshire Disability blamed developers for "trying to avoid the paltry costs of making homes disabled-friendly."

According to the report, just five percent of all houses in England can be accessed by disabled people confined to a wheelchair. Furthermore, 75 percent of adults in Britain surveyed by the charity said they lived in homes without accessible front doors, which could have serious consequences should they develop a disability.

The report also said 5 million people in the United Kingdom suffer from mobility issues — a group for which disabled-friendly homes would be particularly helpful.

The report comes just days after it emerged that a sixteen-year-old girl was kept in police cells for two days due to a shortage of places for mentally ill patients in the National Health Service (NHS).

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