Tanvi Vyas: Why accessible housing must be the norm | Policy blog

Tanvi Vyas MBE is a disability equality consultant and trainer. She is also a member of  Habinteg’s Insight Group , which consists of individuals and experts with lived experience of disability. Tanvi and her husband Dan took their first step onto the property ladder when they purchased a bungalow in 2011 and have since adapted it to suit their needs. Below she discusses why she’s backing Habinteg’s call for the accessible and adaptable standard to be implemented by Government, now.

The barriers

‘The housing crisis’ is a term all too familiar to most people. Many people are struggling to find safe, affordable homes in areas convenient to work, schools, and local communities. However, when we consider the additional factor of accessibility in a home, the crisis is intensified.

Barriers to accessible housing have been ongoing for many years and in some ways are endemic.  Disabled people face all the challenges that others do, with the additional physical barriers of brand-new homes still having narrow doorways, steps to entrances and no way of moving around freely once inside.

The frustration of looking to buy a home and already considering the spiralling costs of basic adaptations like widening a doorway by a few inches or lowering a light switch is real. It can also be upsetting to consider moving into a beautiful flat, but knowing you’ll never be able to access communal areas like a terrace or garden, because standards don’t apply to make them accessible. Being a forgotten afterthought, time and again.

People who would hugely benefit from accessible homes find themselves merely existing in unsuitable, unsafe housing, or may need to stay in hospital for longer than necessary. Young disabled people in relationships can move in with partners, starting lives together.

Raising the baseline for an accessible and adaptable home can allow individuals to have dignity and opportunities to flourish and thrive rather than merely survive.

Accessible and adaptable homes

A solution already exists:  the M4(2) accessible and adaptable building standard. If all developers used this as the basic standard going forward, people could expect baseline levels of accessibility to the property, greater movement around the home and the capability to futureproof for more adaptations which an individual can make if they choose to.

Some simple changes could have a huge impact on the suitability of a home. Lower light switches, considering extra space to allow people to move around freely and raised plug sockets are some examples, which can benefit the many not the few. Expectations and standards of accessibility into and around new homes can enable disabled and older people, as well as young families to circulate, navigate and further adapt if required. People can be more confident and reassured that some minimum standards are to be upheld.

Government commitment

It has been over two years since the previous Government announced it would raise the standard on all new homes but there has been no progress so far.

With the new Labour Government, there seems some hope on the horizon, with a real focus on housing. A pledge to oversee the construction of over 1.5 million new homes during the first term in office, more planning officers and reform of the planning system and the setting up of a taskforce, could resuscitate the housing problem, some of the pledges being a lifeline to many.

However, a huge worry for me is that there seems to be no mention of accessibility or inclusive design whatsoever. No consideration of disabled people and older people who may have to make difficult decisions about moving or adapting their homes. This could be a costly mistake, further deepening the housing crisis, so some reassurance and commitment would be helpful.

We would like to ask the Government to uphold the previous administration’s commitment to raise the accessibility standard, making M4(2) homes the baseline for new homes so that homes are accessible and adaptable for everyone’s future selves.

Habinteg is a social housing provider with fifty years’ experience building and promoting accessible homes and communities and I champion their cause, calling for M4(2)Now!