Taking a risk? The mortgage industry and perceptions of disabled people

Abstract

This paper examines a relatively overlooked force within disability; the appraisal of risk, with a specific focus on disability and housing. In this context the paper explores how risk can operate against disabled people, using a case study of mortgage industry responses to disabled people in the mortgage application process. Given the recent downward shift in the buoyancy of the housing market this is a timely focus. The events in the USA, which led to the sub‐prime market ‘collapse’, and the consequent impact on the UK have meant that lenders have become even more risk averse, withdrawing numerous mortgage products and reducing loan amounts. This has left many people unable to access the owner‐occupier sector, but for disabled people this can be even more difficult. The role of risk in ‘the disabling process’ is therefore of great importance, and is illustrated here through the practice of risk assessment.

Keywords:

• disability
• housing
• impairment
• mortgages
• risk