95% of housing in Iceland is inaccessible to wheelchairs

Haraldur Einarsson, Member of Parliament, raised the issue of visits by representatives of the disabled at a meeting of the Environment and Transport Committee last week at the Althing.

„In a memorandum received by the committee, it was stated that 95% of housing in Iceland is inaccessible to wheelchair users, while at the same time 65% of housing is on the ground floor. It was also noted that access to shopping streets is under 10% for people in wheelchairs. It was specially mentioned that there was a lack of this at service and dining establishments,” said Haraldur.

Accessibility issues have been a topic of discussion recently, particularly the access of people in wheelchairs to public buildings, and a round trip was taken around the country to check the accessibility of wheelchairs to public buildings.

It is important to clarify the oversight aspect better and get it into a proper process. Oversight is the responsibility of municipalities or building inspectors, and it is therefore not possible to place the blame solely on the property owner.

Speech by Haraldur Einarsson: