Homes fit for people and purpose – The urgent case for accessible homes
In this blog, our Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager for Homes, Christos Tuton, discusses the major ‘accessibility gap’ in today’s housing market with not enough accessible homes across the country.
Millions of people are currently locked into homes that compromise their safety and independence.
There is currently a major ‘accessibility gap’ in today’s housing market with not enough accessible homes across the country. There are currently 12.8 million more Disabled people than there are accessible homes, leaving many people without the homes they need. In fact, only one in eight (13%) homes are even fully visitable by someone with a disability – let alone liveable.
To add to this, our population is ageing, and the Disabled population is growing. More than one in four people will be 65 or over in just 15 years, and almost one in five people in England have a disability and this figure is rising.
Put simply, supply is not meeting demand, and this will not change unless government intervenes. That’s why we have been urging the government to use its current focus on housebuilding to ensure the delivery of more accessible and adaptable homes.
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which has just had its final stage in parliament, sets out new regulations for planning policy, including what types of consideration should be made during the process. This should have been a major opportunity to futureproof the UK’s housing stock by making Part M4(2) of the Building Regulations (the accessible and adaptable standard) the default baseline for new build homes.
The government rightly recognises that building more homes is central to solving problems such as the affordability and availability of housing, renewing the UK’s old housing stock, and tackling homelessness. However, they have missed a key opportunity to futureproof our housing stock by ensuring more accessible and adaptable homes through this landmark planning Bill.
In 2022, the previous government said that it wanted to raise the accessibility standard of new homes by mandating M4(2), but they failed to make any progress on this. We await an announcement from the new government on its own policy on accessible housing before the end of the year.
Ahead of this, we urge the government to outline clear steps to build more mainstream accessible and adaptable homes.
This would be achieved most effectively, by making M4(2) the baseline for new builds.
Improving the accessibility of homes would in no way impede the achievement of government’s housebuilding target. Raised standards would instead enhance its legacy – building homes to live in, homes fit for purpose, homes built with the whole population in mind.
The current challenge
There are no suitable properties for Disabled people looking to move. What’s more, there is a woeful lack of properties that are even adaptable, meaning people cannot retrofit homes to suit their needs.
Millions of older and Disabled people are stuck in inaccessible homes, with no suitable alternatives for places to move. People search for years to find accessible properties to no avail – there are not enough options.
Hope for a solution
The government’s Older People’s Housing Taskforce noted that we need to see more homes built specifically for older people – an estimated 30,000 new homes needed per year. It also recommended that the government follow through on mandating new homes to be built to M4(2). However, we have seen no development on this and, currently, just over one in four homes being built in recent years meets the required standard.
M4(2) sets out small changes that improve the accessibility and adaptability of new homes being built. Its inclusion would be a step up from the current mandated standard of M4(1), which requires homes to be built to be visitable by someone with a disability.
In practice, it would mean small changes to designs, such as wider doorways and more spacious bathrooms. Crucially it would mean that homes are built to be adaptable – a key component to ensure we are building homes to meet future need.
The housebuilding industry is well-prepared to implement the improved accessibility standard, having expected it since the announcement some three years ago.
We are ready for the implementation of M4(2). What we are not ready for is what happens if this issue is not addressed.
The cost of not making our homes accessible is far greater: a lack of decent, accessible homes, risking people’s safety and independence; increased pressure on our already struggling health and social care systems; and a housing stock not fit for purpose.
We need these changes not only to meet the very real and current needs of the millions of Disabled people of all ages currently living in unsafe homes, but also to create homes suitable for the lifetime of all occupiers – current and future.