Can you help? Laura Hemingway is doing a study about disabled people’s housing issues. She would like to hear from you!
Research title: A ‘risky’ business? A study of access to home ownership for disabled people.
The research looks at disabled people’s relationship with housing, including ideas about the meaning of ‘home’ and the importance of, and access to, home ownership. I am especially interested in any barriers or discrimination that disabled people may face within financial services when applying for a mortgage. This includes access to life insurance, income issues, benefits, and the support available within estate agencies, building societies and the housing industry generally. The research adopts an approach committed to the social model of disability, which acknowledges that disabled people can be prevented from ensuring a reasonable quality of life for themselves as a consequence of the presence of barriers and constraints socially, economically and environmentally.
I am looking for disabled people who might be willing to share their opinions and experiences of home ownership and the mortgage process, whether successful or not. I would also like to talk to disabled people living in rented properties who would be willing to discuss their experiences of housing, and opinions of home ownership. Interviews can be carried out by telephone, face-to-face or by e-mail and all contributions will be treated confidentially.
If you are interested in contributing to this increasingly important but under-researched topic please contact Laura Hemingway by email at: l.j.hemingway00@leeds.ac.uk or by phone on 07977 118974.
