This section both provides information about Housing Options for disabled people in East Lothian, and advice about how to deal with any discrimination they might encounter. Versions of these page are available in large print by contacting our Public Information Officer on 01620 826600. To increase the size of print on this page go to View/Text Size on your browser menu bar.

Who is considered to be disabled?

The current legal definition springs from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), which says anyone with a "physical or mental impairment, which has a long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities," is disabled. People who have a history of disablement - for instance because of mental health problems - will also be protected by the DDA.

Housing Options

Disabled people should, thanks to the DDA, and the UK Government's Code of Guidance on services provision, have better housing options than perhaps they had in the past.

i) Access
In housing as in other types of service, it is unlawful to treat a disabled person less favourably, for reasons related to their disability. Service providers, such as East Lothian Council must take 'reasonable adjustments' to provide services to the disabled on the same terms as non-disabled users. This means, for example, making sure that Council premises are accessible by wheelchair users or are otherwise suitably adapted for ease of use. A summary of the law, together with links to useful web sites can be found in our Legal Topics section.

ii) Adaptations
As well as making premises easy to use, the Council provides adaptations to to enable disabled people to continue to live their own homes, whether they are tenants or owner-occupiers. Information about how to apply for adaptations can be found here..

Avoiding discrimination

Overt discrimination can be easy to detect. However Discrimination may result too, from a failure to appreciate the impact of an action or decision on a disabled person. It is, for example, discriminatory to refuse a tenancy to a blind person on the ground that s/he has a pet, if the animal is a Guide Dog. The DDA calls this sort of discrimination 'less favourable treatment' and again a summary of the law can be found in Legal Topics. Less favourable treatment could also occur, when judging whether a tenant's behaviour is 'anti-social' - a potential ground for eviction. The alleged behaviour may have causes related to the disability, which must be taken into account.

There are some exceptions to the less favourable treatment rule:

* Health and Safety considerations may arise if the housing provider has a genuine and 'reasonable' belief that allowing a disabled person access to facilities would endanger the health or safety of anyone, including the disabled person his/herself.
* Incapacity to contract - If the disabled person is judged to be incapable of entering into an enforceable agreement or giving informed consent.
* Enabling other occupiers to use the benefit or facility in cases where the disabled person's access may block that of other legally entitled residents.

More information about discrimination and the DDA can be found in the documents on the left hand side of this page.