Homelessness, understood as the most extreme form of poverty and a human rights violation, denies people a safe space to call ‘home’, affecting both their mental and physical health. When this co-occurs with a disability, the challenges that people face are enhanced. Those individuals who face homelessness while disabled are even further marginalised and their life conditions are severely affected.
As this paper will discuss, health needs for people who are disabled and facing homelessness remain unmet at a much higher rate compared to the general housed population without disabilities. Similarly, high levels of exclusion and limitation are observed in access to adequate housing and independent living.
The co-existence of multiple vulnerabilities and rights breaches calls for tailored and adapted measures at a policy level to ensure a dignified way of living for people who are disabled and face homelessness.
This paper examines the intersection between disability and homelessness in Europe, highlighting structural barriers to housing, and experiences of homelessness and independent living. Simultaneously, we aim to shed light on the difficulties that disabled people who face homelessness may encounter in accessing health and social services. Specific challenges faced by groups that may be at higher risk of homelessness and/or discrimination (e.g., women and migrants, including refugees or youth) are also presented.
Furthermore, we highlight that understanding disability through a rights-based lens is essential for analysing the intersection with homelessness across Europe, where service structures, welfare models, and housing policies shape disabled people’s living conditions.
Finally, the human rights lens draws attention to the relationship between individual impairments and structural exclusion. Rather than viewing disability as an inherent personal condition, this approach understands it as emerging from the interaction between impairments and socially constructed barriers.
This paper focuses on the European context and draws on regional and national statistics, existing literature, and research to explore the relation between homelessness and disability. A set of case studies are used to explore the obstacles disabled people face when trying to access housing and support services. Based on this analysis and a brief review of existing European related frameworks, gaps are identified at the level of policy and practice. Through this paper, FEANTSA aims to contribute to ensuring that housing, health, and social services are inclusive and rights-based for people with disabilities who experience homelessness.