Peter Verwer |
Thursday, 1 December 2011 9:35 AM |
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The Kerrigan family’s Castle, “filled with love as well as pride”, is slated for a makeover.
Australians are forecast to spend more than $570 billion on new homes over the next decade, adding to existing stock of around $3.75 trillion. On current trends, a remarkable $520 billion will also be spent on alterations and additions.
The dream home of everyday Australians has transformed mightily over the past generation. Home providers and builders are delivering more housing choice to meet changing lifestyles. Smaller, more versatile homes are a now feature of many communities.
Smarter design thinking and new building technologies are also transforming the traditional detached house.
Many home providers are including greener, lower energy, more water efficient features in homes. Although it’s a way off in terms of affordability, several larger property companies are successfully experimenting with carbon neutral residences.
Clearly, the property and construction industry is responding to the changing needs and lifestyle demands of Australians.
Profound social trends will continue to reshape the design of homes. As Australians age they’ll require dwellings that enhance mobility. The number of Australians with disability will inevitably rise as the population grows and ages.
One in five Australians currently have a disability of some type – about 320,000 are kids. And plenty of us are temporarily incapacitated at some point during our lives, mainly from sporting injuries.
The family home also accounts for 62 percent of all falls and slip-based injuries.
Given the overwhelming preference to age in place – in a familiar environment close to friends and relatives – more and more homes will need to be designed and built with ease of access as a core feature.
Accessible homes will also help older and injured Australians better connect with spirit-lifting support networks.
US research reveals a 60 percent chance that a new house will be occupied by someone with a disability at some point.
This person is more likely than not to be someone you know – a parent, child, sibling or friend.
In short, well designed homes that incorporate ease of access design features are equally important to pregnant mums, young families with kids, weekend sporting heroes and senior Australians.
More versatile homes can also reduce skyrocketing community health costs. According to research group AHURI, reduced hospital stays, government subsidies for home modifications and in-home assistance could save taxpayers up to $273 million annually.
Consequently, homes designed for livability can buttress a more affordable health care system.
These challenges and opportunities are being met by the newly minted Livable Housing Australia (LHA). [see break-out box below].
LHA is a catalyst organisation that champions livable housing design, which means designing Australian homes to meet the changing needs of occupants across their lifetime.
A broad assembly of stakeholders have already developed voluntary silver, gold and platinum specs for houses that will help make homes easier to enter, navigate and occupy, as well as more cost-effective to adapt.
LHA’s goal is to achieve 100 percent silver ratings for all new homes by 2020, with significant milestones to be achieved before this deadline.
The proposed livability features are overwhelmingly inexpensive. The trick is to include these features at the home design stage, as international research indicates it’s 22 times more efficient to design the house for change than retrofit it when an unplanned necessity arises.
As Kirribilli Dialogue member, Cynthia Banham, remarks from personal experience: “You never plan for a life-changing injury… it’s something you just hope never happens.”
Whether it’s the 25 percent of Australians who will soon enough hit the post-60 mark, people with disability, wounded weekend warriors, families or pregnant mums, smart livable design is an investment in community resilience.
As Darryl Kerrigan might have noted, “ … it’s the new serenity”.
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What Is Livable Housing Australia?
LHA is a partnership between community groups, government and industry. Its patron is Therese Rein.
LHA arose from the Kirribilli Dialogue on Universal Housing Design, led by Minister Bill Shorten MP and Parliamentary Secretary, Senator Jan McLucas in 2010.
LHA will:
- Promote voluntary guidelines on livable housing design
- Accredit home designs based on a silver, gold or platinum attainment
- Increase community awareness of livable housing design features and benefits
- Work with community, professional and trade groups to transform industry practices
- Provide advice on integrated public policy solutions and incentives.
LHA draws on the tremendous collaborative work of the Kirribilli Dialogue members, which included:
- Community groups – individuals with disability, as well as representatives from the disability and aged care sector, including the National People with Disabilities and Carers Council, Disability Council of NSW and the Council on the Ageing.
- Industry – the MBA, HIA, Australian Institute of Architects and the Property Council (including several large members)
- Government – Federal and state government departments and agencies, including Human Rights and Opportunities Commission (HREOC), the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and the Victorian Building Commission.
The LHA is currently in set-up mode led by newly appointed executive director, Amelia Starr, and will officially launch in early 2012.
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For more information on LHA’s livable housing guidelines and objectives prior to the release of the LHA’s own website, please check out www.propertyoz.com.au/livablehousing
Peter Verwer |
Thursday, 1 December 2011 9:35 AM |
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