Housing ableism in finding and maintaining housing among people with disabilities: A scoping review

Access to safe and affordable housing is a human right; however, people with disabilities are more likely to live in inaccessible, insecure, unaffordable and poor-quality housing than people without disabilities. They often experience many forms of disability-related discrimination (ableism) in finding and maintaining adequate housing. The objective of our study was to synthesize the literature on housing ableism among people with disabilities seeking or maintaining independent housing.

We conducted a scoping review that involved searching six international databases that identified 10,082 studies, 52 of which met our inclusion criteria involving empirical research, without language or date restrictions, that had a sample focusing on people with disabilities, that had findings related to independent housing and ableism. We followed the best practices of scoping review methodology and applied an inductive data analysis approach.

The studies included in the review involved 13 countries over a 47-year period. Our review identified the following findings: (1) ableism in finding and maintaining appropriate housing through renting and ownership (i.e., lack of suitable housing, barriers to accessing or viewing properties, affordability); (2) factors affecting housing ableism (i.e., lack of knowledge about the needs of people with disabilities, and intersectional factors (i.e., socio-economic status, type of disability, housing type, systemic and policy barriers); and (3) the impact of housing ableism (i.e., challenges with neighborhood environment).

Our findings highlight the extent to which people with disabilities encounter multiple forms of discrimination in trying to find suitable housing. Our review emphasizes the urgent need to reduce the ableism that people with disabilities by addressing structural barriers and prioritizing housing accessibility. Policy reforms, increased attention and investment towards accessible housing are needed for a more inclusive housing sector.