Conventional accounts of housing careers and even housing pathways present, in some ways, a monochromatic view of households and the housing they occupy. The concept of a housing career holds cogency for young, middle-class household members of Anglo-Celtic backgrounds born in the 1950s, but sheds little light on the more complex realities of households in the 21st century. One of the areas where this gap is most acute is in our understanding of the relationship between disability, households and housing. In most developed economies over the last 30 years there has been a profound move away from institutional housing for persons with a disability to accommodation within the broader community. In some instances this accommodation has been appropriately funded, but in many cases it has not. The relationship between disability and housing is not a niche issue: in Australia 22 per cent of households have one or more household members affected by a disability (Beer and Faulkner, 2009), and similar rates of prevalence are evident in comparable nations. The AIHW (2003, 2007) estimates that some 6 per cent of the Australian population is affected by a profound disability – defined as ‘a severe or profound core activity limitation’ where the individual requires assistance with meeting his/her daily needs. Under current population estimates, this equates to 1.3 million persons, and if similar rates of prevalence apply in the US and the UK, 21.6 million persons and 3.6 million persons respectively are affected.

The impact of disability on the housing sector in the 21st century is not simply a matter of scale; the care and other needs of persons with a disability are profoundly reshaping the relationship between households and their housing. In the latter part of the 20th century ‘home’ was an important place for caring for children. In the 21st century ‘home’ will be increasingly important for the provision of care for adults. The Housing 21 Survey found that 13 per cent of households provided care for a person living within their home and 9 per cent provided care for a person living in another household. Critically, disability does not simply reshape the housing of the affected individual; instead it recasts the housing opportunities, movements and costs of all members of the household and often the outcomes of family members or care providers living elsewhere.