Housing for people with disabilities: “Complete coverage of needs is not foreseeable”

By the end of 2025, there will be almost 5,000 residential places available for people with disabilities in Upper Austria. However, these would not be enough, the LRH announced. While “acute or very urgent needs” have always been met in the past, around 1,193 people with disabilities are on the waiting list for a place (as of December 31, 2023). 335 of them have a very urgent need for an apartment, 135 people want to move within six months and another 459 within a year.

Due to demographic developments, more and more older people – 55 to 60 year olds – need support and care. According to the Court of Auditors, this can only be made possible through alternative forms of living and partially supervised offers. “The goal must be to prevent the need for ‘institutional’ housing support from arising in the first place,” says LRH director Rudolf Hoscher.

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Support for work and activity

The aim of the state of Upper Austria is to further develop the offer that supports people with disabilities in leading a more self-determined life. The “Social Department 2021+” project also dealt with this. In addition to promoting housing, the money invested was also used to implement projects in the area of ​​work and skills-oriented activities in accordance with the Equal Opportunities Act. According to the Court of Auditors, demand in this area is currently falling, which is why places were already reduced at the beginning of 2024.

Voices from politics

There were similar reactions to the report presented from domestic politicians. Both the club chairwoman of the Social Democrats, Sabine Engleitner-Neu, and Herwig Mahr, club chairman of the FP, are calling for the waiting lists to be reduced quickly. Together with the Green Party spokesperson for the disabled Ulrike Schwarz and Neos club chairman Felix Eypeltauer, the various factions are in favor of promoting alternative forms of housing for people with disabilities.

State Social Councilor Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (VP) wants to meet these demands. “The motto is as much independence as possible, as little care as necessary,” it says in a written statement.

Cost framework for investments

The Court of Auditors sees the standard cost guidelines for investments as another important point with potential for improvement. Since construction costs have risen unusually sharply in recent years, the total eligible costs have had to be increased repeatedly. According to LRH Director Hoscher, the new guideline, which the state of Upper Austria has been working on since autumn 2023, should be completed as quickly as possible. A decision on this is expected in the second half of 2024.