What makes housing inclusive? Multi-stakeholder perspectives on inclusion and wellbeing for people with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Inclusive housing for people with intellectual disabilities has increasingly replaced institutional models in policy discourse. However, less attention has been paid to how housing becomes inclusive in practice and how accessibility principles translate into everyday living environments. This qualitative study explores what makes housing inclusive from a multi-stakeholder perspective, drawing on five focus groups conducted in Spain with people with intellectual disabilities, family members, professionals, policymakers and community representatives (n = 36). An inductive thematic analysis identified five interrelated environments shaping residential inclusion: physical, social, supportive, community and symbolic. Findings show that inclusive housing cannot be reduced to compliance with architectural standards or small-scale provision. Instead, it emerges from the interaction between accessible and adaptable design, cognitive and sensory accessibility, personalised and flexible support, meaningful social relationships and active connection to the surrounding neighbourhood. Participants emphasised the importance of spatial personalisation, privacy, life-course adaptability and continuity of support as central to experiencing housing as home. At the same time, rigid funding schemes, housing market barriers and gendered inequalities limit real choice and the effective implementation of independent living. The study conceptualises inclusive housing as a lived, relational and place-based process aligned with Design for All principles, linking built environment design, support systems and structural conditions in the production of wellbeing.