Disability adjustments in replacement student accommodation

Short answer

There is no automatic legal rule that replacement accommodation must be identical to what you had before. But if the adjustments, location features and evacuation arrangements are things you need because of a disability, the accommodation provider generally has to make sure the replacement still meets those needs, or provide an equivalent that does. The legal question is not “is it the same?” but “does the replacement discriminate against you or fail the duty to make reasonable adjustments?” If a genuine need is dropped in the move, that is likely to be unlawful unless the provider can justify it.

Who owes you what

The starting point depends on who is providing the accommodation, because more than one duty can apply at once.

If the accommodation is provided by, or closely linked to, your university or college, the education provider owes an anticipatory and continuing duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. For further and higher education this sits in Part 6 and Schedule 13. The duty is “anticipatory,” meaning the provider is expected to plan ahead for disabled students generally, not just react once you complain. Crucially, the duty is a continuing one, so it does not disappear simply because you are being moved to a different room or building. A move that strips out adjustments you were already assessed as needing is very hard to justify.

If the accommodation is provided by a separate landlord or a private purpose-built student accommodation operator, the relevant duty is the reasonable adjustments duty on providers of premises and services under Parts 3 and 4 of the Equality Act. That duty is also anticipatory for service providers, and it covers changing a provision, criterion or practice, providing an auxiliary aid, and, in limited circumstances, altering physical features. For let premises the physical-features element is more restricted, but auxiliary aids and adjustments to policies and management arrangements still apply.

In practice, if the university arranged the accommodation you will usually have grounds to hold the university responsible for ensuring your needs are met even where a third-party operator runs the building.

Disability adjustments

If specific room and building features were put in place because of your disability, for example a ground-floor room, level or lift access, an accessible bathroom with grab rails and a shower seat, a hoist, a fridge in the room for medication, a flashing or vibrating fire alarm, or alarm pull cords, these are not optional extras. Once a provider knows you are disabled and knows what you need, removing or failing to replicate those features in replacement accommodation is likely to be a failure of the reasonable adjustments duty and can also amount to discrimination arising from disability under section 15 of the Equality Act.

A provider can only refuse an adjustment if it is not reasonable. Reasonableness takes account of things like effectiveness, practicability, cost and disruption, and the provider’s resources. Cost or inconvenience to the provider is a factor, but a provider cannot lawfully move you to accommodation that leaves a genuine disability need unmet simply because the alternative was cheaper or more convenient for them.

Location needs

Location requirements are treated the same way as any other adjustment where they are genuinely disability-related. If you were allocated a particular location because of a disability need, for example proximity to teaching or medical facilities, accessible parking, a quiet flat, or short accessible routes because of a mobility or fatigue condition, then a replacement in a location that undermines that need engages the same duty. If the location was simply a preference not linked to disability, the provider has more latitude to change it.

The distinction matters. Be ready to show that the location feature is a need arising from your disability, supported by evidence, rather than a general preference, because that is what triggers the strongest legal protection.

Evacuation arrangements

Evacuation arrangements have their own separate legal footing on top of equality law. Under fire safety law the responsible person for the building must assess risks to all occupants, including disabled people. Government fire safety guidance is explicit that in student accommodation suitable Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans should be provided by the accommodation manager, based on the building’s plans. So if you have a PEEP or specific evacuation arrangements, the provider of the replacement building must carry out a fresh assessment for that building and put suitable arrangements in place before you move in, not afterwards.

You should not be placed in a building where safe evacuation for you has not been assessed and arranged. If the replacement building cannot support your evacuation needs, for example there is no suitable refuge, no evac chair provision, or no working visual alarm, that is a serious safety and equality problem and a strong argument that the accommodation is not suitable.

What could lawfully justify differences

The provider can point to ordinary practical explanations, and it is worth distinguishing these before assuming discrimination. Refurbishment, fire safety remediation such as cladding works, flooding or building faults, or genuine over-subscription can all mean your original room is unavailable. That is not unlawful in itself. What matters is whether the replacement still meets your assessed needs. If it does, a change of room or building is generally lawful even if you preferred the original. If it does not, the provider has to show either that it offered an equivalent that met the needs or that meeting them was not reasonable. Minor differences that do not affect your needs, such as a slightly longer but still accessible walk, are unlikely to be unlawful.

What you should do

1. Gather the evidence. Collect your original accommodation assessment, any occupational or disability adviser recommendations, medical evidence, your existing PEEP, and the correspondence in which the adjustments and location were agreed.

2. Put your needs in writing to the accommodation office and disability or wellbeing service. Set out each adjustment, location feature and evacuation arrangement, explain that each is a disability-related need not a preference, and ask them to confirm in writing how the replacement will meet each one before you move.

3. Ask specifically about evacuation. Request confirmation that a fire risk assessment and a PEEP for the new building have been completed and ask to see the relevant arrangements.

4. Use the internal complaints route if they cannot or will not meet the needs. Raise a formal complaint under the university’s or operator’s complaints procedure, framing it as a failure of the reasonable adjustments duty under the Equality Act and a fire safety concern.

5. Escalate if unresolved. For a university, you can complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education once you have exhausted the internal process and received a Completion of Procedures letter. You can also raise disability discrimination concerns with the Equality Advisory and Support Service. Fire safety failures can be raised with the local fire and rescue authority. A private operator’s failures may fall under the housing complaints route or, for members, a redress scheme, and separately under equality law.

6. Court action is a last resort. A disability discrimination claim about services or premises is brought in the County Court, generally within six months of the act complained of, but this is slower, more stressful and riskier than resolving it through the provider and adjudicator routes, and is best kept as a backstop.

Key missing facts

The strength of your position depends on several things you have not yet stated: who actually provides the accommodation, whether the move is temporary or permanent, why the move is happening, which specific features are being lost, and whether each feature is a documented disability need or a preference. If you tell me who the provider is, why you are being moved, and exactly which adjustments, location features and evacuation arrangements are at risk, I can give you a more precise assessment and help you frame the written request or complaint.