#ForAccessibleHomes

Every year, we run a week of action - Accessible Homes Week (AHW) – to celebrate what an accessible home can do for a person's wellbeing, independence and overall quality of life.

In 2026, our ninth Accessible Homes Week will run from 12-16 October. This year, we'll be looking into public attitudes to home adaptations and adaptable housing.

Most people will require a home adaptation at some point, whether temporarily due to illness or injury, or permanently as part of ageing or disability. Despite this, most homes are not designed to adapt easily, leading to higher costs, delayed interventions, increased caring pressures, and greater demand on health and social care services.

Many adults are making housing decisions now, have direct experience of unsuitable homes for caring, and are planning ahead while managing current responsibilities. This means they're well placed to provide valuable insights into home adaptations. 

Join us at our live Zoom webinar, on Tuesday 13 October, 11am, where we'll be sharing the findings from our research, The adaptability gap: Public perceptions of UK homes 2026, speaking to housing professionals, accessible housing experts and people with lived experience.

Adaptations shopping list 

Our 2024 campaign illustrated some of the most tangible value to society of building to the M4(2) accessible and adaptable dwellings standard.

We compared the costs of installing grab rail, stairlift and wet room adaptations in different types of homes. Our findings showed that people living in an M4(1) visitable dwelling who may need to make such adaptations could be almost £27,000 worse off compared to those living in an M4(2) home. 

Families and individuals could be forced to spend savings to privately fund essential adaptations, whilst Local Authorities would be picking up the bill for those who do not have savings through a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) or direct grants if the property is a council owned home.

This is one reason why Habinteg continues to urge the Government to make the M4(2) accessible and adaptable standard the baseline for all new homes in England, and to immediately hold the one short consultation with industry stakeholders on the implementation details to make it happen.