Stanley Lau: Addressing accessibility early in social housing development is key | #ForAccessibleHomes News

Stanley Lau is the Planning Manager of the Majors team within Development Management (Planning) at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, which has partnered with Habinteg in the past to develop accessible social housing. In this blog, Stanley shares his takeaways from working closely with Habinteg on developments; why it’s best to work collaboratively; the challenges of developing accessible family homes, and why accessibility should be addressed early in the development process.

The London Borough of Waltham Forest’s Majors Team deals with, primarily, major residential planning applications. A key component of that is to secure accessible accommodation for the borough where proposals are housing-related, in particular, through planning policies within our Development Plan, which includes the London Plan.

In recent years, for planning applications that have involved C3 housing, Waltham Forest’s planners have been able to ensure that new housing developments in the borough meet the policy requirement of 10% of homes being accessible and / or adaptable. 

C3 housing refers to dwellings, including houses and flats, which are used as a private residence by a single household or a small group of people living together as a single household, potentially with some care provided. It's the most common type of residential property, often used for family homes, but also applicable to shared houses or supported living situations if they function as a single household. 

Collaborative working key

Like Habinteg, as a registered social housing provider, Waltham Forest encourages developers to work with registered providers at an early stage in the planning process to bring forward such developments in areas where there is an identified need for accessible homes.

To better understand the design elements of an accessible home, Waltham Forest’s planners visited a new development that incorporated accessible homes into a scheme consisting of flats.

This should be a key exercise for all Planning teams if they’re to understand the difference and feel of an accessible home in comparison to England’s older housing stock where 91%of homes are not visitable by a wheelchair user.

I developed an appreciation of the space required for M4(3) wheelchair user dwellings under Building Regulations. I also experienced firsthand how an M4(2) accessible and adaptable home could be further adapted to meet the potential future requirements of a wheelchair user’s needs.

Changes in housing type

Unfortunately, Waltham Forest has experienced a steady decline in C3 proposals. Such developments have become less viable and deliverable in the current economic climate. In recent years, other forms of housing accommodation have come forward; namely co-living (or shared living) and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).

While the provision of accessible homes in co-living or shared living developments is supported by planning policy (there is a 10% policy requirement) and recent PBSA schemes have provided accessible accommodation, there are challenges in securing accessible accommodation for these types of developments.

Accessibility versus building costs

Challenges include balancing the need of meeting the 10% accessible housing requirement against build costs as well as the functionality of these proposals (accessible homes require more space). For Waltham Forest’s Planners, accessibility is a key consideration when assessing the planning balance of such schemes.

Setting accessibility as a priority at an early stage within the development process ensures our Planners – who also have knowledge of the local people who will receive an accessible home - can work with developers on the design of those homes at the pre-application stage to ensure functionality and balance the budget.

The introduction of the M4(2) and M4(3) Building Regulations, 10 years ago, has resulted in improved design quality, helped Planners and Developers appreciate the space required, and raised the profile of accessible accommodation in schemes coming forward for planning.

Marketing is key

Finally, as part of gaining planning permission, Waltham Forest also insists on a clause within any S106 Agreement - a legally binding contract between a local planning authority and a developer - that a wheelchair accessible marketing strategy is prepared for the development. We believe this is key.

The strategy should state how the developer intends to promote and advertise the accessible accommodation during an exclusive period, up to 12 months.

Such a strategy helps to secure the right person or family for the property. These are people who could be eligible for an accessible home but who may not be aware that such a home exists in the borough, if it is not marketed correctly, to the right audience, i.e. disabled adults and older people, and families with disabled children.

So, our advice if you’re planning accessible homes can be summed up in three succinct sentences:

·       Work closely, and collaboratively, with the developer from the outset.

·       Prioritise accessibility at an early stage when designing accessible homes and other forms of accommodation.

·       Ensure a marketing strategy is created as part of any planning permission to ensure the home is promoted to the right audience.

Top image: Morris Court in Waltham Forest.