Hundreds of thousands of inaccessible homes are still being built, what’s the delay?
We must mandate the M4(2) requirement in the Building Regulations as a minimum standard, writes Lord Richard Best, co-chair of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People
Lord Richard Best is chair of the Affordable Housing Commission, and co-chair of the APPG for Housing and Care for Older People
It is a story of delay and procrastination.
In July 2022, the government announced its intention to require all new homes to meet higher standards of accessibility. In February 2024, I asked in parliament when they will implement this decision and mandate the M4(2) requirement in building regulations as a minimum standard.
The minister of the day noted that a further technical consultation by the Building Safety Regulator (within the Health and Safety Executive) was needed before introducing the updated Building Regulations.
“I cannot give a specific timeframe for that work,” said the minister.
READ MORE
Many charities – not least the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Habinteg housing association – have campaigned for the full Lifetime Homes regulations for many years. But since the government announced its intention to act, over 300,000 properties have been built that do not accord with M4(2); every further month we await the consultation, another 13,000 are built to inferior accessibility standards.
The Building Safety Regulator has been given the task of taking this issue forward and I wrote to the appropriate director in June 2024. The quite reasonable response was that the general election meant the issue was on hold.
“Every further month we await the consultation, another 13,000 properties are built to inferior accessibility standards”
The director also pointed to the need to consider the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce.
When I followed up with a further letter in January of this year – six months after the election – the director noted that the Older People’s Housing Taskforce recommended immediately implementing the adoption of M4(2) for all new housing.
But instead of announcing the launch of the long-awaited technical consultation, he told me the Building Safety Regulator was “continuing its work to keep building standards under review”!
Homes that are inaccessible, cramped and problematic for anyone with a temporary or permanent mobility problem – as well as families with children in buggies and visitors using wheelchairs – will not meet needs over a lifetime.
For relatively modest additional sums – estimated by Habinteg at an average of £1,400 per home – accessibility and adaptability can be hugely improved. And after such a long delay, the industry is already well prepared for the change.
“Homes that are inaccessible, cramped and problematic for anyone with a temporary or permanent mobility problem, will not meet needs over a lifetime”
It is true that the government is taking bold steps to ensure delivery of new homes to meet its 1.5 million target. But fixing quality as well as quantity has to be part of the equation. The delay in requiring adequate accessibility in all new homes hits the public purse through increased costs of domiciliary care and future adaptations, as well as NHS spending after accidents and falls that could have been prevented.
Surely the time has come for a concerted effort to increase the priority given to this endlessly delayed improvement and get M4(2) done.
Lord Richard Best, co-chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Housing and Care for Older People
Sign up for our care and support bulletin
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
