New Inclusive Housing Design Guide: insights from author Jacquel Runnalls | Policy blog

On 18 September 2024, Habinteg Housing Association and Centre for Accessible Environments will launch an Inclusive Housing Design Guide, which is authored and peer reviewed by Specialist Housing Occupational Therapist & Inclusive Environments Specialists, Jacquel Runnalls , and Marney Walker respectively.  Below we’ve shared some key points from a Q&A with Jacquel below to demonstrate why the guide is essential reading for those building new homes.

Why was the new Inclusive Housing Design Guide needed?

Habinteg had been keen to update their 2003 design guide for several years and in 2022 discussions began with the proposal to base the guide on site briefs I’d developed initially for Wandsworth regeneration team and latterly the London Borough of Richmond and Wandsworth.

This coincided with the Government’s announcement of the intention to mandate M4(2) accessible and adaptable standard of the Building Regulations Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings Volume 1: Dwellings (ADM), so it was a timely opportunity.

I was also encouraged to write the guide by Marney, and I couldn’t have done it without her support, unique insight and expertise. As housing occupational therapists, our philosophy is underpinned by a person-centred approach. Working with disabled and older people in their own homes and neighbourhoods and on the design and build of new homes, throughout our careers, has given us an understanding of the daily barriers that people experience due to poor design.

What are the key aims for the book?

Predominantly to address common misunderstandings and missing detail in ADM on M4(2) (accessible and adaptable homes) and M4(3) (wheelchair user homes) and set out the rationale for exceeding minimum requirements. In our experience many housing developers see the M4(2) and M4(3) standards as an aspiration rather than what is actually an absolute minimum.

The aim was to cover aspects not considered in ADM such as outside space and connectivity to the local neighbourhood, and designing for a wide range of people by incorporating considerations for visual contrast, lighting, acoustics, and so on.

This is a technical guide that is intended to demonstrate how the recommendations can be achieved in practice. It includes scale drawings, and people with different abilities drawn to scale to demonstrate functional use of space in furnished layouts. Also included are photos, insights and case studies showing how to create genuinely accessible, adaptable, inclusive, attractive and sustainable housing development in practice.

People often don’t understand that attention to detail matters, nor do they appreciate the impact that design decisions or fixtures have on people’s lives. The negative and stigmatising effect of clinical and institutional aesthetics is often overlooked. One of my standard questions to those specifying is, “Would you want this in your own home?”.

Why is it important to incorporate inclusive housing design from the outset?

The guide aims to demonstrate how it can be done at minimal or no additional cost if considered from the outset and can in fact provide potential significant resource savings, exponential benefits, and ultimately homes that are fit for purpose and enable as many people as possible to live fulfilled lives throughout their lifetime. Sadly, this understanding is still not filtering through.

This is not just about physical access and the ability to get out of one’s home, but also about our health and wellbeing and the ability to participate fully in wider society – as demonstrated by Habinteg and LSE’s 2023 recent research Living not Existing . I never cease to be shocked by the BRE research into the Cost of Poor Housing , with its 2023 update still citing over £1 billion per year savings to the NHS is possible by building accessible, safe and comfortable homes.

Is there anything that could have been developed further through writing the guide?

I’m acutely aware that while the term inclusive design is used, the guide does not consider all protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act, nor does it cover in detail considerations for cultural beliefs, faith or gender. Where considerations for people with a variety of impairments and abilities have been provided, these are still basic, but hopefully still helpful, and show how they can be embedded from the start to provide choice and control and avoid later disruption and cost.

Were there any further challenges and considerations when writing the guide?

I consistently face a lack of understanding as to the importance of getting the detail right or the impact it has on peoples’ lives, so I really wanted this guide to try and start to address these issues.

Part M, and current space standards (or lack of, for wheelchair housing) fall far short of the needs of our current population so it is essential that the new Government publishes the recent Part M research, which examines the prevalence and demographics of disability, ergonomic and anthropometric requirements and disabled people’s lived experience of the built environment.

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The guide will be published in partnership with RIBA on 1 October 2024, priced £40. Copies can be pre-ordered from CAE’s Shop.