New Home Standards for Increased Livability

The Federal Government has launched the Universal Housing Design standards in a bid to make new homes more livable.

Under a new voluntary agreement with industry, the Federal Government aims to have new homes meet specific targets by 2020 to meet the new rating system.

This bold move to improve living standards for young families, the aged and people with disabilities will see new homes have ground-floor bathrooms, wider doorways and entry level access.

It is expected that around 30,000 homes per year will meet the standard in three years. On average, around 140,000 homes are built every year.

According to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph, all homes would need to be built around six principles, including meeting the standards:

• A safe and continuous path of travel from the street entrance and/or parking area to a dwelling entrance that is level;
• At least one level entrance into the dwelling;
• Internal doors and corridors that facilitate comfortable and unimpeded movement between spaces;
• A toilet on the ground (or entry) level that provides easy access;
• A bathroom that contains a hobless (step-free) shower recess, and;
• Reinforced walls around the toilet, shower and bath to support the safe installation of grab rails.

Read the full article: New Home Revolution

What do you think of this new initiative? Will these additions to new builds help or hinder people’s design choices? Also, these inclusions could hike up the costs of new builds – will this be reflected in the sale price when sold alongside homes that haven’t included these principles?