Freedom of information (FOI) disclosure log
Date Sent: August 19, 2026
Conclusion: Released In Full
Description: Dear Wakefield City Council, I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding demand for wheelchair-user social housing in your local authority area. For this request, a “wheelchair-user housing requirement” means an active applicant household whose assessed housing need records indicate that at least one member requires a home suitable for occupation by a wheelchair user. This may include households recorded by the authority as requiring: - wheelchair-user housing; - wheelchair-accessible housing - wheelchair-adapted housing - wheelchair-standard housing - Category A mobility housing, where this specifically denotes wheelchair-user need - an assessed requirement for an M4(3) wheelchair-user dwelling in England - the authority’s nearest equivalent category Please do not include households recorded only as: - having a general medical or disability priority - requiring ground-floor accommodation - requiring lift access - requiring level access - requiring a generally accessible or adaptable dwelling, including M4(2) in England, without a specific wheelchair-user housing requirement Please use the authority’s standard definition of an active or live housing-register application. Please exclude closed or cancelled applications and state whether suspended, deferred or temporarily inactive applications are included. 1. As at 31 March 2026, what was the total number of unique active applicant households on the local authority housing register or common housing register? 2. As at 31 March 2026, how many unique active applicant households were recorded as having a wheelchair-user housing requirement, as defined above? 3. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, how many unique applicant households with a wheelchair-user housing requirement started a permanent social-rented or affordable-rented tenancy in a property recorded as meeting that requirement? Please count completed tenancy starts rather than: - offers that were declined or did not result in a tenancy - temporary accommodation - emergency or short-term placements - shared-ownership purchases - lettings where the property was not recorded as meeting the household’s wheelchair-user requirement. If this exact information isn’t held, please instead provide the number of permanent social-rented or affordable-rented lettings during the period involving properties recorded by the authority as wheelchair-user, wheelchair-accessible, wheelchair-adapted or the nearest equivalent. Please clearly explain what the alternative figure represents. 4. Please provide: a. the exact name of the housing-need category or categories used to answer question 2 b. a definition of each category c. whether the categories include requirements other than wheelchair-user housing d. whether the figures overlap with any wider accessible, adapted or mobility-housing categories 5. Please state whether the figures supplied for questions 1 to 3 include: a. new housing applicants b. existing social tenants seeking a transfer c. council-owned homes d. housing association or registered provider homes allocated through the council, a common housing register or nomination arrangements e. specialist or supported housing f. applicants who currently live outside the local authority area Where possible, ensure that the waiting-list and tenancy figures cover the same applicant groups, landlords and allocation arrangements. If the waiting-list figure and tenancy figure have different scopes, please explain the difference
Attachments: FOI_Response FOI 840.docx