About 300,000 disabled people are stuck on housing waiting lists across the UK, forced to make do in accommodation that does not meet their needs, according to a charity report.

In No Place Like Home, published on Monday, Leonard Cheshire Disability accused the government and housing developers of failing disabled people.

The charity wants the government to make housing developers build all new homes so they are easy to adapt (so-called “lifetime homes”) if a resident was to become disabled, and for 10% of large developments to be fully wheelchair accessible so that disabled people can live independently and pursue job opportunities across the country.

Chief executive Clare Pelham said: “While most of us will spend Christmas day visiting friends and family and sharing food with our loved ones, thousands of disabled people will be unable to get in the door to visit the people they love. Even worse, many face the reality of having to wash in the same kitchen sinks where they peel their brussel sprouts because they can’t get upstairs to their bathrooms, or having to use commodes in the same dining rooms where they ate their Christmas lunch.

This story profiling a protest about the loss of benefits for the disabled suggests that the public are more switched on than I might have feared.

It explains: “If the size of the Hardest Hit march was relatively small compared with last autumn’s student demonstrations (with police estimates ranging between 3,000 and 8,000), consider the hurdles facing many of the participants – the everyday problems of inaccessible public transport, and the high cost of rail travel for those dependent on disability benefits.

“The protesters from the West Country said they were already so acutely conscious of the consequences of local authority funding shortages, and anxious about the impact of changes to the benefits system, that making the choice to come and protest was not difficult.”

We know that rural local authorities have to raise more per head in Council Tax than their urban counterparts to deliver services and I suspect some authorities will really struggle to balance the books with no scope to increase funding allowed this year from that quarter.

This story suggests they may have the ability to engage the genuine understanding and engagement of those they serve rather than just the blame!