Ruils’ accessible housing work featured by the BBC

Ruils has campaigned for safe, affordable and accessible homes for many years, supporting Mould is Killing us Action, Accessible Housing action with Inclusion London and the Homes 4 Us Alliance, the Inclusion London Barriers at Home report launch and wider work highlighting severe lack of appropriate housing for Disabled people.

In June 2025 our Campaigns and Communications Manager, Hallie, was invited to give evidence at the London Assembly Housing Committee for the second time, sharing the reality of our clients living in homes that don’t meet their needs. She shared about inaccessible temporary accommodation, higher costs associated with making inaccessible properties ‘work’, impact on individual’s mental and physical health and the wider impact on the voluntary and public sectors. Watch a short clip of Hallie speaking here.

The lack of accessible housing for Disabled Londoners is a crisis. Ruils is supporting people on the ground and campaigning, but this issue requires a systemic approach.

Following on from the panel, Zoe Garbett AM, Chair of London Assembly Housing Committee, penned a letter to the Mayor of London recommending:

• The next Strategic Housing Market Assessment should place a much greater focus on accessibility.
• The GLA should improve the accuracy of data on accessible home completions and approvals in the London Planning Datahub.
• The GLA should take a co-production approach to developing housing policy and programmes – involving Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations in key decision-making processes on an ongoing basis.
• The GLA should ensure a larger proportion of homes meet the wheelchair accessible standard, to avoid downstream costs associated with adaptation.

We welcome the committee’s recommendations and feel strongly that the Mayor needs to take urgent steps towards addressing these. Further, we are pleased that this issue is getting the press and recognition it deserves. Hallie has been quoted in a number news articles about the accessible housing crisis in London – The Standard, BBC News and My London.

As Hallie has said, “Everyone deserves safe, accessible, affordable housing and the Mayor needs to do his job in ensuring this bare minimum standard is met.”

We will continue to fight for the rights of all Disabled Londoners to have safe and affordable homes.

Interested in learning more about our housing campaigning? Check out our current campaigns.