New Blog Series!
Since I started house hunting, I’ve been unable to find an accessible home suitable for my needs. These homes often come with inaccessible features. Even with newer builds, they still come with step access to the property and lack features to allow disabled people to move easily around the property.
This post serves as an introduction to my brand new blogging series, ‘What Is An Accessible Home?” This blog series aims to delve into what an accessible home looks like and discuss how to make rooms more accessible. I hope that it will educate more on accessible housing.
Hopefully, by writing this series, we can push for more accessible housing across the United Kingdom. We know the government have planned this in their new strategy but we still need to make sure it’s done properly by continuing to write about these important issues.
Accessible Homes
When searching for an accessible home, it’s important to have an idea of what to look for. It can be more difficult to find a house with accessible features, after all, not all houses are built the same and can come from varying specifications. This section aims to briefly explain what an accessible home is. Future posts will aim to expand on these points further i.e. accessible bathrooms, kitchens and even accessible features!
Definition of Accessibility
So what exactly is an accessible home? Well, the oxford dictionary defines accessibility as:
“The quality of being easily reached, entered, or used by people who have a disability.”
Oxford Dictionary
When put into the context of an accessible home, this includes features, such as:
- Level access into the property and outside the property i.e. garden and driveway.
- Turning space/spacious areas.
- Adapted kitchen.
- Wet room bathroom.
- Wide/widened doorways.
- Lowered windows – so you can look out of them!
- Ramps instead of stairs where applicable.
- Many other accessible features are not mentioned i.e. tracking hoist options, technology, boilers, etc.
As you can see above, these features don’t seem like much to accommodate but even with all the current new builds, these features are often missed out. We discussed why this was the case in a previous post on
Universal Support and Adaptability
An accessible home from what’s been discussed above is a home where a disabled person can easily enter, access features and use all parts of the home. There is no “making do” in an accessible home, so it’s important that housing can universally support accessibility for anyone that needs it.
Of course, over time houses get sold and changed due to the owner’s needs, but houses can always be adapted again if they house is designed to be.
The point is that houses should be able to accommodate the needs of anyone and be adapted just as easy to meet those needs. If houses were universally accessible and easily adaptable, we would have more accessible homes to go around.
More Accessible Rooms to Come
More content will be coming soon covering many of the other rooms that make up the perfect household. In the meantime, please consider getting involved by emailing info@buildmyaccessiblehome.co.uk with your post ideas or comments.
Please also consider donating to the blog via the BuyMeACoffee button at the bottom of this post. Donations, no matter how big or small highly appreciated and help me continue writing on this blog, plus go towards purchasing an accessible property!
