Moving to Ireland as a wheelchair user

strooooble

Hi everyone. I'm new here... )

I am looking for advice on behalf of a friend who has Cerebral Palsy. She comes from England but would like to move to Ireland next year or as soon as possible. I’m trying to gather as much information as possible to assist my friend in moving here, as well as providing support and care in her new home.


I have been around the usual websites and have a vague understanding of what needs to be done now, but only vaguely.


I guess moving to a different country makes this whole thing even more complicated and getting there seems like a vicious circle to me ... for example:
To complete and hand in an application for a housing adaption grant you need an address, and a PPS number. To get that number you need somewhere to live. In order to live somewhere I really need accessible housing. And how am I going to get to that without the grant? Vicious circle.


I just wanted to ask you all if anyone has any ideas or any advice to offer, any experience?



I am grateful for every tip and will appreciate any thoughts you want to share.


Holiday Greetings,
StRoOoObLe

snorlax

the county council in most areas provides grants to make housing accessible (ramps/ level access bathrooms and stairlifts /extensions).

As far as i no dun laoghaire have upped their grant to up to 30,000k and up to 95% of the cost of the project.

Socky72

Hey,
I would suggest that your friend could as a short term measure, rent an apartment. Alot of the newer apartments are fully wheelchair accessible, lifts, car parks etc. Its all part of the changes in building regulations AFAIK. Now I know this would only give mobility access and not many apts have disability access in the bathroom, chair level cupboards etc, but if you/ friends were prepared to help her to live independently initially and then she liked it she could look into more long term grants/ aids/ accommodation.

In the longer term, as an eu citizen she would be entitled to grants etc but it might be better to make sure she likes it here first.

RainyDay

snorlax wrote: »

As far as i no dun laoghaire have upped their grant to up to 30,000k and up to 95% of the cost of the project.

FYI, the increase to €30k applies to all local authorities, not just DLR. See http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/housing-grants-and-schemes/housing_adaptation_grant_for_people_with_disability/?searchterm=disabled%20persons%20grant for more details.

Socky72 wrote: »

Hey,
I would suggest that your friend could as a short term measure, rent an apartment. Alot of the newer apartments are fully wheelchair accessible, lifts, car parks etc. Its all part of the changes in building regulations AFAIK. Now I know this would only give mobility access and not many apts have disability access in the bathroom, chair level cupboards etc, but if you/ friends were prepared to help her to live independently initially and then she liked it she could look into more long term grants/ aids/ accommodation.

Compliance with the Part M regs is still relatively poor. So while new apartments are more likely to be accessible than old ones, the OP's friend would still definitely need to check out specific apartments that meet his/her needs. And I guess bathroom access is pretty essential, as they won't last too long without needing the loo or a shower! It's not just getting into the apartment that matters - ability to get out in case of emergency evacuation is pretty important too, and not many developments have evacuation lifts.

The Irish Wheelchair Association might be able to provide some advise too.

strooooble

Thanks everyone, will see what else I can find out.

Moonbeam

Contact Enable Ireland ,they will be able to give you some advice too.

snorlax

RainyDay wrote: »

FYI, the increase to €30k applies to all local authorities, not just DLR. See http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing/housing-grants-and-schemes/housing_adaptation_grant_for_people_with_disability/?searchterm=disabled%20persons%20grant for more details.


Compliance with the Part M regs is still relatively poor. So while new apartments are more likely to be accessible than old ones, the OP's friend would still definitely need to check out specific apartments that meet his/her needs. And I guess bathroom access is pretty essential, as they won't last too long without needing the loo or a shower! It's not just getting into the apartment that matters - ability to get out in case of emergency evacuation is pretty important too, and not many developments have evacuation lifts.

The Irish Wheelchair Association might be able to provide some advise too.

im a Community OT and we have to adhere to specific recommendations/ hosuing guidelines when people apply for grants for extensions/ downstairs toilets/ level access shower rooms from DLRC. eg recommended width of doors is 800mm.

Archeron

snorlax wrote: »

im a Community OT and we have to adhere to specific recommendations/ hosuing guidelines when people apply for grants for extensions/ downstairs toilets/ level access shower rooms from DLRC. eg recommended width of doors is 800mm.

Snorlax, would you happen to know if thats a legal requirement? We recently had a conservatory fitted so the dining room could be a downstairs bedroom for my mum, but the builder left a lip about 400mm high on the door frame, and its too narrow to fit her wheelchair through. This is bad as on a good day, she likes to go out to the garden, and now even that has become an un-necessary struggle.

RainyDay

Archeron wrote: »

Snorlax, would you happen to know if thats a legal requirement? We recently had a conservatory fitted so the dining room could be a downstairs bedroom for my mum, but the builder left a lip about 400mm high on the door frame, and its too narrow to fit her wheelchair through. This is bad as on a good day, she likes to go out to the garden, and now even that has become an un-necessary struggle.

400 mm is not a lip - it's a block! 400mm is almost 16 inches. Did you get your units mixed up?

The Part M regs apply to new buildings, extensions and material alterations. I guess that a conservatory is considered to be an extension. The Part M regs state that;

Corridors, passageways and doors to habitable rooms in the entrance storey or, where there is no habitable room at this level, in the storey containing the main living room, should be sufficiently wide and free of stepped changes of level so as to allow convenient circulation by people with disabilities. Corridors and passageways should have a minimum unobstructed width of 900 mm. Local permanent obstructions, such as radiators, may be allowed, provided that the unobstructed width in those areas is at least 750 mm. Where a stepped change of level is provided, e.g. because of the slope of the site, it should be located so that at least one habitable room can be accessed from the accessible entrance without the need to negotiate the step(s).

and

Saddleboards, where provided, should be bevelled with maximum upstand of 10 mm.

so any large lip would probably be in breach of the regs. Your local authority Building Control officer is responsible for enforcing the regs.