Harry's Pledge

Why housing providers who build for a narrow idea of a general needs customer are excluding a quarter of the people who might live in, or visit, their homes. 

 At a Glance 

• General needs housing is built around an assumed customer, but with around 25% of people reporting a disability, that assumption no longer holds for a large share of the stock providers manage. 

• Harry's Pledge, founded five years ago and now backed by around 100 organisations, asks housing providers, employers and offices to commit to accessible design, workplace flexibility and support for carers, choosing which commitments they can meet. 

• Harry's Pals, the charity set up alongside the pledge, matches parent carers with free counselling, addressing a toll that leaves more than 40% of parent carers having thought about suicide. 

General needs housing is designed around an assumed customer, typically someone without significant mobility, sensory or care needs. Around 25% of people report having a disability, and only around 8% of homes are estimated to be visitable. The effect extends beyond the household directly affected. It limits who can visit a disabled resident, and who that resident can visit in turn, including elderly relatives who may depend on being visited rather than travelling themselves. 

Harry, now 11, has profound disabilities following strokes at birth, and needs equipment and care around the clock. The family's terraced home in Coventry could not accommodate that volume of equipment, or the wheelchair access Harry would need as he grew, and carers visiting to help left little space that felt separate from his condition. 

Delays in adapting existing homes compound the problem. One Amplius tenant waited years for an extension that gave his profoundly disabled son a downstairs bedroom, bathroom and space for an overnight carer, held up by unclear statutory responsibility between landlord, local authority and social services. Amplius proceeded anyway, treating the case as an ethical responsibility rather than waiting for the statutory question to be resolved. It is now mainstreaming low cost, discreet accessibility features, a reinforced fitting that doubles as a grab rail, a planter that doubles as something to hold on to, into every property it relets, rather than reserving them for new build. 

Harry's Pledge asks organisations to commit to what they can manage across four areas: building and adapting homes beyond minimum accessibility standards, supporting employees with caring responsibilities, making workplaces and offices accessible, and backing wider campaigns on disability and care. Around 100 organisations have signed up since the pledge launched five years ago. The workplace strand responds to workforce loss: around a quarter of a million carers leave employment each year, often highly skilled staff who cannot get the flexibility to combine work with caring. New signatories can join directly through the Harry's Pledge website. 

Harry's Pals, the charity Hayley Charlesworth set up after struggling to find counselling support following Harry's diagnosis, matches parent carers with counsellors, often at the point of crisis and via referrals from hospitals and hospices. More than 40% of parents with disabled children have thought about suicide, and one in 12 have made a plan to end their life. An all-party parliamentary group, backed by the pledge, is campaigning for government funded counselling for parents given a diagnosis that their child's life will be short or life-limiting. Amplius will mark good practice under the pledge at an awards dinner in Chester on 29 October. 

Host: Jenny Danson, CEO and Co-Founder, Healthy Homes Hub 

Guests: Julie Doyle, Chief Executive, Amplius, and Hayley Charlesworth, founder, Harry's Pals 

Practical steps for housing providers 

• Build accessibility into void and relet standards, not only new build specifications. 

• Track accessibility as a measure of performance, alongside output numbers, in development and improvement programmes. 

• Work with local authorities and social care partners to clarify statutory responsibility for adaptations and reduce delay. 

• Introduce low cost, discreet design features, in bathrooms, kitchens and entrances, that support residents without singling them out. 

• Review workplace policies for the flexibility that staff with caring responsibilities need, including job shares and adjustable hours. 

• Train frontline and repairs staff to recognise the pressures a caring household may be under, and to flag concerns early. 

• Build relationships with local carer and disability charities so families reaching crisis point can be signposted to support beyond housing.