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Included by design:
A national strategy for accessible housing for all
Paper presented at the National Housing Conference, Adelaide, November 2003
D Herd, M Ward and B Seeger
One of the major changes in the first half of this 21st century will be the increase in older people and people with a disability who live in private houses in the Australian community. The Australian Network for Universal Housing Design (ANUHD) argues in this paper that housing designs will need some inexpensive but important changes to cope with this demographic change.
Percentages of the population above age 65 in selected countries. (Main source: Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan).
The challenge of the ageing demographic is reflected across the western world. The Australian population most closely resembles that of the United States of America, with our older population also set to rise exponentially. In a recent dramatic revision of the nation's official population projections, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that Australia had 13% of its population at or over age 65 in 2002, and that is projected to go to 27% in 2051. Of this group, there will be more than five times as many Australians aged 85 and over as there are now. The over-85 group will experience the highest growth rates of all (see Australian Bureau of Statistics, Population projections, Australia, 2002 to 2101).
The projections in Queensland illustrate the ageing trend. It is also known that around 20% of the Australian population have some form of disability. Of these, around 3 million people are already adversely affected by poor access provisions in houses.
This does not even take into account the families with children in pushchairs, delivery people, removalists or those of us who from time to time break an arm or severely strain an ankle, due to a totally unnecessary step or two.
It also does not take into account the family members, friends and colleagues who are affected by inaccessible and unsafe home environments because they cannot have their brother, sister, friend or aged parents with impaired mobility visit or live safely with them.
We need to acknowledge that people with a disability and older people have, in the past, been unreasonably prevented from engaging in activities which they are quite capable of carrying out, due to obstacles which others have created or failed to remove. With a greater number of older people and people with a disability actively participating in their communities, there is a need to examine how people are prevented from full participation, and to remove barriers wherever they occur.
Many areas of our world have become accessible more quickly than others. What is surprising is how far private housing is lagging behind the access we now expect in public buildings and in every other design. Private housing needs to move with the times. Retrospective attempts to embody the principles of inclusion, such as a ramp installed after the event, are often expensive and unsatisfactory.
This photo of the entrance to an elegant hundred-year-old mansion shows front steps that proved to be non-functional for the current residents, and needed a ramp placed over the steps. We do need to plan for access better than this, not just for now, but for future generations as well.
Now is the time to make some important choices.
Do we ignore access and continue designing housing which will discriminate and exclude? The current outcome for people who require safer and more accessible environments than is found in the average home is expensive modifications or rehousing in 'special' environments marginalised from community activities. With our ageing demographic, more and more people will be marginalised.
Or do we work towards inclusive housing, housing for all people regardless of their changing needs?
Do we, as a society, include by design or exclude by our omission of universal design principles?
What is universal housing design?
Universal design is the design of products and environments to be used by all people to the greatest extent possible without the need for adaptation or specialised design.
universal housing design is intended to:
- meet the housing needs of people across a range of abilities and ages;
- be economically adaptable to meet the changing needs of people throughout their lives and providing people with the choice to remain in their own home;
- ensure usability and aesthetics are mutually compatible and achieve wider market appeal; and
- increase safety.
ANUHD supports
- recognition and research of the needs of older people, people with a disability or chronic illness, and people recovering from illness or injury, who experience exclusion, isolation and discrimination by present housing design and construction practices;
- effective and efficient measures to address those needs, thus contributing to social inclusion, as well as environmental and economic sustainability; and
- universal housing design and construction, being design and construction for all, which aims to meet everyone's needs and avoids building barriers that exclude, isolate and discriminate against any of the people living and working in or visiting a home.
To this end, ANUHD calls for access requirements for housing in the Building Code of Australia for all new and extensively modified housing, based on universal design principles.
What is happening elsewhere?
We are not alone. Other countries have also come to a similar understanding about the future demographics of the western world.
United States of America
Currently the United States of America has a jigsaw puzzle of responses through national rights legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act and local advocacy affecting state legislation and local regulations. The most recent national initiative is the introduction of the Inclusive Home Design Act, yet to be passed by Congress.
Representative Janice Schakowsky of Illinois introduced this legislation by saying "it will greatly increase the number of homes that are accessible to people with disabilities." The legislation requires all newly-built single family homes receiving federal funds to meet three specific accessibility standards: an accessible route or 'zero step', into the home, 32-inch (810mm) clearance doorways on the main level, and one wheelchair accessible bathroom.
United Kingdom
In 1993 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published the definitive ‘Lifetime Homes’ document with its 16 design features that ensure a new house or flat will meet the needs of most households.
In 1999 England and Wales made changes to Part M of the building regulations, which would require all new dwellings to have wheelchair access and a useable ground floor toilet. Following self-government, Scotland developed its own similar regulations.
Part M of the building code for all new and modified housing requires
- a 900mm-wide path from car to entry;
- an accessible entry;
- an accessible WC in the entrance story;
- switches and socket outlets to be located so that they are easily reachable (450-1200mm from the floor.
Northern Ireland introduced amendments to their Building Regulation in 2001, to achieve harmony with Scotland, England and Wales.
The Netherlands
Over the past twenty years a growing number of local councils and housing associations encouraged the development of new dwellings to be designed using the adaptable housing principles. By 1996, 44% of new social housing in Amsterdam was adaptable, as well as 60% of all new housing in The Hague. In 1997, the requirements for adaptable housing were included in the Dutch National Building Code. There are five criteria set down for adaptable housing, which have become mandatory:
- threshold at external doors no higher than 20mm;
- in a block of flats higher than 3m above ground level, space has to be reserved for a lift;
- turning space for wheelchairs of 1500mm by 1500mm in the public area of apartment buildings and sufficient turning space in the house near the front door;
- free passage space at all floors of 850mm by 1200mm;
- toilet space of 900mm by 1200mm minimum (visitable toilet).
Europe
The European concept for accessibility is a result of a request from the European Commission, made in 1987. This concept is based on the universal design principles. These principles apply to the design of buildings, infrastructure, building and consumer products.
Japan
In 1994, the Japanese ‘Gold Plan’ set a series of ambitious targets for specialised aged housing. The targets were not met. In particular, the target for ‘care housing’ fell short, with fewer than 7,000 of a planned 100,000 units built. An updated ‘New Gold Plan’ was issued, with a major emphasis on ageing-in-place. Regulations now require that all new housing, about one million units, should be built for 30 years of ‘liveability’, to universal design standards.
By 2015, when one in four Japanese will be 65 or over, the target is to have 40 per cent of the housing stock supportive of ageing-in-place, half from new construction and half through renovation. Because of the major savings to the health and social services budget, Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare provides mortgages at concessional rates for construction of barrier-free housing.
Initiatives across Australia
In all states and territories there has been some limited action to increase the supply of accessible housing. A number of different model codes have emerged.
State housing providers and managers have responded to their responsibilities to provide an equitable service with varying enthusiasm and skill, again leading to varying standards.
Australian Capital Territory
Draft guidelines introduced in 2002 include provisions for 10% of new multi-unit development to comply with AS 4299-1995 Adaptable Housing in specified areas.
Victoria
ResCode came into operation August 2001 as a Statewide planning policy, including two relevant provisions for multi-unit developments. Clause 55.05-1 ‘Accessibility’ encourages the consideration of the needs of people with limited mobility in the design of developments.
New South Wales
The two State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPP 5 and 65) relate to housing for older people and for people with disabilities. SEPP 65 introduced a set of design principles which need to be considered. Principle 7 states ‘Good design provides…ease of access for all age groups and degrees of mobility.’
Planning NSW funded the development of a model Development Control Plan on Adaptable Housing by Willoughby and Newcastle Councils in 2000/01.
South Australia
For many years, South Australia has had a requirement for one Class 1 building (house) or Class 2 (apartment) to be accessible if a group of 20 or more are being built. Developers have been creative in avoiding this requirement.
The South Australian Housing Trust adopted elements of the Adaptable Housing standard AS 4299-1995 for certain selected new two-bedroom single storey housing developments.
Western Australia
The Residential Design Codes of Western Australia (R-Codes) seek to encourage the development of small-scale specialised housing for aged and dependent persons within local communities.
Queensland
Seven Queensland government agencies recently joined together to promote more sustainable housing design through the Smart Housing Partnership Agreement.
Tasmania
The Tasmanian Government introduced adaptable housing features into some public housing in Tasmania in the year 2000-2001.
Local Council Initiatives
While state and territory governments still contemplate their position and the legislation they will implement in the future, some local councils have taken up the initiative and implemented their own building regulations for the residential building sector.
In New South Wales, Willoughby Council requires new developments of more than nine dwellings to conform with the regulation of one in nine new residential dwellings to be constructed to Class C of AS4299.
Waverley and Ryde Councils have adaptability requirements for multiple unit developments within their development control plans. Kogarah Council has received an exemption to SEPP 5 on the basis of a requirement for 50% adaptable housing in developments within approved zones.
In Victoria, Manningham Council’s Municipal Strategic Statement (MSS) ‘recognises the importance of implementing strategies to ensure that people with a disability have the same level of access to buildings, services and facilities as any other person.’ While this appears to be interpreted primarily to apply to public areas and facilities covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, one housing developer has gone beyond current legislation, and has included wider doors and hobless showers, with additional fit-out packages to buyers’ requests.
In Queensland, Redland Shire Council has championed the concept of adaptable housing along with other shire councils which have a growing retirement and holiday population.
The most comprehensive piece of work to date has been that of the South East Queensland Region of Councils (SEQROC) who have developed a model sustainable housing code that includes access incentives for new homes and is intended to be applied statewide.
A way forward
Without some national focus, these various state and local initiatives are likely to lead to a complex maze of guidelines and regulations. As well, the hoary issue of access to Class 2 buildings is presently being tested in a complaint under the Disability Discrimination Act in Queensland.
This is not what the housing industry wants or needs. They have learnt from their experience with access requirements for public buildings that consistency and certainty through regulation is preferable.
In early 2003, ANUHD proposed to the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) that there be a national forum with the key national stakeholders to discuss a way forward and this was readily supported.
This forum was held on 10 April 2003, and representatives from the major concerned organisations attended, including
- All state representatives of ANUHD;
- ABCB Executive staff;
- NSW Aged Care Services;
- Australian Institute of Building Surveyors;
- Housing Industry Association;
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission;
- Master Builders Association;
- Property Council of Australia;
- Royal Australian Institute of Architects;
- University of NSW;
- Council on the Ageing.
The outcomes were
- acceptance of the social disadvantage that inaccessible housing leads to and the negative effects it has for social integration and participation. In the view of some participants this requires a response from government and industry;
- a multi-pronged approach is required to increase the profile of the issue in the wider community. This would involve education, regulation, research, training and accreditation, best practice and marketing;
- the best scenario is that a proactive national harmonised approach be adopted;
- the Australian Building Codes Board will support a research program on adaptability in housing.
Participants agreed that the forum was a successful first step in establishing a dialogue and the development of a national approach to accessibility in housing.
ANUHD has acknowledged that any change strategy of this magnitude must have several strategies, including information, training, accreditation and regulation. It is clear however that the key strategy must be the adoption of access requirements for housing within the Building Code of Australia.
The proposed research project will identify
- how current housing construction practice needs to change to be sustainable in meeting the access and safety needs of the Australian population in the future;
- the social, economic and environmental benefits for Australians if inclusive / accessible housing practices are adopted;
- the social, economic and environmental consequences for Australians if current housing practice remains the same; and
- options for market and government intervention, including a comparative analysis of developments at state and local government levels and overseas.
Conclusion
Education, awareness and incentives go part way to meeting the need but the experience of other western countries shows that regulation is inevitable if a timely and consistent response is to be achieved. It will be from this research project that ANUHD will fine-tune its advocacy for the inclusion of access requirements for housing in the Building Code of Australia.
The Network is committed to work collaboratively with the ABCB towards the goal of housing being more accessible and understands that, for this for this goal to be met, the concerns of all stakeholders will need to be addressed.
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