My Interview with BBC Three Counties | Tenant news

Habinteg tenant and Insight Group member Chris Hicken shares about his interview with BBC Three Counties' breakfast show to discuss the lack of accessible housing in Milton Keynes.

Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited on to BBC Three Counties’ breakfast show to discuss the lack of accessible housing in Milton Keynes. I’ve been campaigning on this issue for quite some time now so it was great to have my message amplified on such a huge platform. Accessible housing is an issue close to my heart. I do live in a suitable home now, but when I first became a wheelchair user in 1986, this wasn’t the case. It wasn’t until 1999 that I was referred to Habinteg and found my accessible home. This meant that I lost my independence for 13 years.

Even though the interview was at 8.04am, I managed to read through some useful stats the night before so I was prepared. Andy Collins, who presents the breakfast show, was really lovely and I could sense his empathy for the issue. After explaining how I became disabled, Andy and I dived into what the government need to do to fix the situation. Last year, Theresa May promised a consultation on accessible housing standards before she stepped down. Even though MPs have continued to say that this will begin, we have not seen this happen yet. It’s simple. We need the consultation to start and all new homes built to an adaptable standard.

An adaptable standard does not mean ramps and hospital equipment in the home. But small things that are in place just in case the property does need adapting in future such as wider corridors and doorways. We might not all be disabled, but we’ll all end up old one day and these small additions will help adapt our properties to our needs in the future.

I will continue to campaign for this issue until real change is made by the Government. I look forward to hearing about the start date of the consultation and also the launch of National Disability Strategy announced by Government earlier this year.

I’d like to thank Habinteg for setting up the opportunity and Andy Collins for having me on his show.