Young disabled Lancaster man's fight for a new home

Luke Stutchbury, 23, has cerebral palsy and is currently living independently in an adapted house provided by Lancaster City Council.

He used to share the accommodation with his twin brother Adam who also had cerebral palsy but sadly died earlier this year.

“It’s hard for me to live here now with all the memories of Adam and I’ve been struggling with my mental health,” said Luke.

Luke and Adam had wanted to move nearer to family in Lancaster and applied for a move two years ago.

They had their hopes set on one of the new apartments currently being converted from a former NHS building in Slyne Road.

However, recently, Luke has been told someone with higher priority will move into the flat instead.

“It was a bit of a shock when I was told that I couldn’t have one of the flats,” said Luke who has former school friends who also face difficulties in finding suitable accommodation locally to live independently.

Luke and his family want to raise awareness of the shortage in the hope that building developers and people with properties can consider adapting them for people in his situation.

“By working with social services, we’re aware that there is a long list of young people with autism, learning or physical disabilities all waiting to be housed,” said Luke’s sister, Gill Stutchbury.

Luke has used a wheelchair all his life and his current home has a downstairs adapted bathroom and bedroom, hoists and sliding doors to ease access.

Well known as a presenter on Beyond Radio and as a mobile DJ, Luke is still on the county council’s waiting list but is unaware of any new independent living accommodation being built by them in Lancaster.

“This is a devastating blow to Luke, his mental health and the rest of us as a family as we have no idea when something else will come up,” said Gill.

County Coun Graham Gooch, cabinet member for adult services, said: "Unfortunately there are limited opportunities for people with accessibility requirements in Lancaster and there are only three such apartments in Slyne Road, which is a new apartment setting with 12 apartments to provide supported living.

"We have to allocate these on a priority basis and Luke was not considered for Slyne Road at this time as he is currently suitably accommodated. His current accommodation has been fully adapted to meet his individual needs and he has 24-hour support in his home.

"Although Luke was not offered an apartment at Slyne Road, we hope that we will be able to offer opportunities in the future for him to live more independently in an apartment setting. We have a number of people known to us who require accessible accommodation, and we continue to work with them to identify suitable opportunities.

"Modern and accessible accommodation is in high demand across the county and it remains a top priority for us to continue working hard to identify suitable sites for new developments, with further sites in the pipeline over the next few years."