This is a progressive and inciteful addition to a document that advocates that the supply of housing must be suitable for all people of all abilities and all stages in life. It also signals that any central or local government policy statement on housing needs to ensure that accessibility will form part of any new design and development programme.

The acceleration of Universal Design is recommended as a mechanism to improve the supply of decent housing and the Lifemark® website is also referenced.

We posed a similar question in our Lifemark® October newsletter and serendipitously this document takes this discussion to another level.
A decent house is described as being habitable, affordable and accessible and whilst there is political capital lambasting government policies on affordability, the lack of accessible housing is equally culpable and needs to be addressed.

The new guidelines will be released next year and in preparation for these changes it would make sense, over the summer period, for policy makers to ensure accessible and Universal Design standards are part of wider housing and urban development plan statements. Designers and developers can then also use this time to learn more about the technical aspects of Universal Design.

It appears that our new normal next year should be a home that is warm, dry, safe, healthy and accessible. In other words, a decent home.