Independent lives and the relevance of lifetime homes

A problem for disabled people, particularly individuals dependent on the use of a wheelchair, is housing that is not easily usable due to physical barriers. A proposed solution by government is the adoption of lifetime homes (LTH) standards that are likely to become mandatory for all newly constructed dwellings in the private sector in England by 2008. It is, therefore, an appropriate time to take stock of LTH standards, and to evaluate to what extent they are able to address the problems for disabled people caused by physically inaccessible housing. In doing so, the article provides a critique of LTH standards, and suggests that while they are, in some respects, a positive development, they are not, in and of themselves, a panacea in relation to rectifying the shortfall of accessible dwellings.