Joan Rutherford, a member of our Housing Working Group, gave a talk at the Housing 2025 event in Manchester last month.
What do I mean by ‘accessible housing’? Housing that meets Building Regulation M4(2). More or less what used to be known as Lifetime Homes. Meaning that anyone with reduced mobility can continue to live there despite changes in their lives.
Things like no steps to the front door, and it being wide enough to get a buggy or wheelchair through, a downstairs toilet with space for a shower, walls strong enough for grab rails, stairs suitable for a stair lift, and movement space in bedrooms.
Homes meeting the M4(2) standard were called Lifetime Homes because they cater for a lifetime of challenges…
· Supporting disabled people to be more independent and able to play a more active part in their community.
· Future-proofing our housing stock for a time when our ageing population might need more support in terms of long-term health conditions.
Lifetime Homes cater for a lifetime of changes for all of us… that time when you need to get a double buggy and toddler through the front door… space to put a cot in a bedroom … or come back from hospital needing a wheelchair temporarily to help your hip replacement to heal.
They mean that you can live in the same house throughout your lifetime – which research shows that most people would like to do. Despite this, only 7% of our current homes meet even the lowest level of accessibility.
In June 2022 the Conservative Government announced that it would make the M4(2) the national baseline for all new homes. Those of us who have been campaigning for accessible housing for years gave a huge cheer as we thought that the battle had been won. However, the Conservative government did not implement their announcement.
When Labour came to power, we assumed that the previous government’s intention would be honoured. However, despite vigorous campaigning there has been no serious acknowledgement of the importance of this issue. We are promised 1.5 million new homes. We hear a lot of political talk about the need for more affordable homes, but rarely the need for more accessible homes.
In the three years since the Conservative government announcement, around 650,000 new homes have been built. Some of these will be accessible because of policies in Local Plans. The majority will not. Had the right national regulations been in place, these homes could all have been accessible. But the industry continues to build new homes that do not meet the changing needs of our population.
I’ve been trying to understand the reasons why the Labour Government has not adopted the Accessible Homes standard as the baseline for all new homes.
Is it because of the Cost? The Conservative government calculated the additional cost to build a home to M4(2) standard to be around £1,400 per dwelling, a negligible amount in relation to the cost of a new home.
Research shows that accessible homes would save the NHS significant amounts. Delayed discharge – when patients remain in hospital despite no longer needing clinical care - is a major issue. So, this housing policy would help us fix the NHS.
Raising accessibility standards would also ‘future proof’ new homes for successive generations, saving some of the costs associated with adapting homes and reducing the need for social care. The maths is obvious. So, the problem surely can’t be cost.
Is it because of the Land Take? I used to think of an accessible home as a bungalow in a large garden, and I suspect many people have the same misconception. However, this not the only possibility. A married couple I know negotiated modifications - off-plan - to a ground floor flat in a standard owner-occupied block to make it suitable for a wheelchair-user. They lived in the flat for 20 years and saw two other families with wheelchair-users move in to other ground floor flats in their block. These modifications were all achieved within the envelope of the standard flat, so no extra land was needed. So, the problem surely can’t be Land Take.
Is it because the Building Regulations need updating? The Building Regs for accessible homes have existed since 2015, so have been well tried and tested. Of course, they do need updating to take account of changing circumstances such as the increased sizes of wheelchairs and the need to store equipment and charge mobility scooters. They should be revised to also include requirements for neurodiverse people, and to take account of the need for homes to be digitally enabled to support the use of smart technology. However, those revisions will take a while and - until they happen - surely the current standards will suffice? So, the problem surely can’t be the Building Regulations.
Is it because Local Plans don’t all require new housing to be to the accessible standard? Habinteg have calculated that 70% of new homes due to be built over the next ten years won’t be required to meet any of the optional standards to make them accessible and adaptable.
However, there is no requirement to wait for these policies. As responsible developers, planners, architects… and humans… surely, we should be catering for our future population without waiting to be forced by regulations?
On Monday’s Study Tour we visited Talbot Mill, which is being converted for apartments. Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital and Centric who are doing the conversion, explained that they would all be accessible, and most of them wheelchair-accessible. I asked him why he was providing wheelchair-accessible housing when not required by legislation. His response was basically “This is what the market wants.” People recognise that the future is unpredictable and want the reassurance of a home that gives them flexibility. It clearly makes economic business sense. So, the problem should not be the lack of Local Plan policies.
Finally, is it because accessible housing looks institutional? There are architects who design social housing that is attractive as well as accessible. There are some examples of beautiful, accessible social homes designed by Peter Barber Architects…
Having gone through all the reasons I can think of I really don’t understand why the government has not championed the accessible housing standard as the baseline for the planned 1.5 million new homes, when there are so many obvious financial and social benefits.
We have managed to make the built environment, trams and buses more accessible in recent years, based on government regulation and guidance. But we continue to build inaccessible homes.
What am I missing? Why is accessible housing not the norm?
What’s the problem?
JR24.06.25
