Article Category
It's a new space age
Posted: 2009/04/13
IF you or a relative have a disability or are worried about your long-term health, it may be best to consider buying a new home that will serve your requirements later in life
By 2011, all new homes will have to meet strict guidelines known as the Lifetime Homes standard. This is to ensure partly that new homes will answer the needs of a growing number of elderly people and people with special needs, as well as ordinary families.
Some plans - including the London plan - already require the standard in new developments and some developers are already building homes that meet it.
At the heart of the standard is the issue of space - homes that meet the mark will cost more, so at present not all developers are keen on the idea.
Wheelchair accessibility is the benchmark for a "good space requirement" in a Lifetime Home. But good spaces also help many other people, such as parents with pushchairs and small children and people carrying bags.
Among the 16 criteria, all of which must be met to achieve the standard, are specified minimum widths for entrances, stairs and lifts, doors and hallways to allow wheelchair access or, for example, to install a stairlift.
A space that can be used for a bedroom at entrance level as well as a room that can be used for both a WC and shower is also required in every property and there will be stricter rules governing everything from bathroom layouts to car parking spaces and approach gradients.
Homes which meet the standard will provide not just more accessible accommodation - they will be more adaptable so that the homes will literally last a lifetime if necessary.
With a shortfall in suitable housing for the elderly, the standard will be particularly welcomed by the elderly.
Among developments that already meet the standard is Denham Garden Village, in Buckinghamshire, a ground-breaking retirement complex by Anchor Trust now nearing completion.
Denham Garden Village offers homebuyers above 55 more than 320 homes ranging from one and two-bed apartments to two and threebed houses.
Jackie Eltis, general manager, said: "The older generation have much higher expectations than in the past. We have everything from a gym and a cafe bar to a doctor's surgery and village shop. We have created a unique development which will serve older people for generations to come."
Residents also benefit from a 24-hour on-site care team. Other services available include shopping and gardening. Prices start at £370,000.
INFORMATION: 01895 836 333/ www.denhamgardenvillage.co.uk
