Needle in a Haystack?

Case Managers and other professionals who support people post injury, trauma or disability to find a suitably accessible property have a tough search ahead of them. Guy Harris of AccessiblePRS offers some advice...

Accessibility in property search has always been a frustrating process due to a chronic shortage of supply of suitable properties and fast-paced search processes that have evolved to exclude wheelchair accessibility.

I've been working with the estate and letting industry to level the search processes over the past few years, brought some foundational changes, and seen fabulous case studies where proactive agents have nailed it. So I know positive change is inevitable.

My work with estate agents, property portals and the CRM platforms that sit between them has led me to developing a new search tool. The tool will use emergent technology to support searchers, whilst illustrating the advantages of up-skilling in terms of accessibility for agents, portals and platforms. We will only succeed when accessibility is part of the mainstream and not apart from it, as a specialism or niche.

In the meantime, here are some tips to improve your search to find the needle in the haystack.

Register with agents in your search area. Understand how to describe what it is that you're after in property attribute terms, rather than the specifics of your disability. This change in focus will enable them to help you, by letting them do what they do well rather than expecting something they cannot do.

Register with your preferred search platform(s). We've worked with Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket to introduce new search and filter parameters to level the playing field for older and disabled renters. Set up alerts and check regularly to break the task into bitesize pieces. They're not where I want them to be, but November 2023 brought some important changes to their listing process which benefits you.

In November 2023, National Trading Standards announced new guidelines for estate and letting agents, as well as the property portals. This meant that three new property attributes became embedded in the listing process which recognise accessibility whilst being pragmatic that most UK properties are not wheelchair accessible. They are:

• Step-free. Includes lifts, ramps and level access.
• Wet room. Includes all level access showers.
• Lateral living. Defined as any property with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and at least one bedroom on the entry level.

When the property portals made their updates to include these keywords, frustratingly they included them via
<+ Add Keyword>
and not via an intuitive checkbox. For Rightmove, you'll need to select your parameters first and when the search results list comes up, then you'll see the option just above the list. With Zoopla you need to go into the Filters option, scroll down to the bottom of the list and you'll see the keywords box there.

Next, know that portals recall these filters from two places: (1) the property description i.e. what the agent writes about the property in the listing, and (2) a specific property attributes checklist that the agents complete in the CRM when listing the property. This means that you (the property searcher) need to search both.

For example, if choosing 'step-free' the way to do this is to enter:
Step-free – no quotation marks draws from the property listing description.
"Step-free" – using quotation marks draws from where agents have checked a property attribute in the CRM.
Also, you need to know that if an agent spells in a different way such as "step free" "step-free" and "stepfree" then it's worth searching different correct and incorrect spelling variants with and without the quotation marks. You'll notice how the search results vary when you use different methods.

Be responsible for yourself and your search. If the property photos, videos or floor plans do not show clear details, call the agent and ask them about steps. If there are steps, you'll need to do what works best for you in terms of cancelling a viewing, asking for any help you might need, bringing someone with you, and bringing your own portable ramp.

Tenant search advice

For guidance on finding wheelchair accessible property in the private rented sector (PRS) in the UK i.e. properties that are rented out by private or corporate landlords rather than local authority and housing association (social housing) click here.

For renters looking for an accessible property, the Private Rented Sector offers an opportunity to find your accessible home, because independent landlords are able to make quick decisions without the constraints of a social housing system, click here.

Acting for a client?

If you're a Case Manager or other professional searching for accessible properties on behalf of your client click here or send Guy a brief email to guy.harris@accessibleprs.co.uk, and he'd be pleased to send you details directly of accessible properties that come his way. Or learn more here.