Livable Housing Australia is a partnership between community and consumer groups, government and industry. Its executive director, Amelia Starr, explains what 'livability' means, and how to achieve livable homes.
According to the Productivity Commission, investment in housing remains the single biggest financial commitment that Australians make in their lifetime.
However, in reality, our lifetime investment is not designed or built for a lifetime’s use. We design and build our houses for a ‘Peter Pan population’ – people who never get older, never get sick, never need to push a pram through the front door, move furniture or manoeuvre on crutches.
International research has found that it is 22 times more efficient to design your home to meet your changing needs upfront, than it is to undertake an expensive retrofit. And yet, few people consider livability when they are buying or building a new home.
Designing homes that are sensitive to our lifecycles is not a new concept, although it’s still relatively new in Australia. One of the major challenges in Australia has been to find a term that describes this approach to housing. Few people relate to the term ‘universal design’ as, after all, everyone wants their own individuality to be recognised. What is known as ‘lifetime housing’ in the UK, ‘lifespan housing’ in Norway and ‘flexhousing’ in Canada is now understood as ‘livable’ housing in Australia. Another significant challenge has been the industry’s perception that livable design is only for older people or for people with disability and their families.
So, what is ‘livability’? It’s really just good design. Livable homes are safe for young children, able to meet the changing needs of families, support people with disability to live independently and help older Australians to age in place.
The Livable Housing Design Guidelines outline simple and straightforward design features that can be incorporated into any new or existing home, whether a detached house or apartment dwelling. The designs of more than 250 individual dwellings have already been certified as the Guidelines are embraced by design and development professionals around Australia.
Lend Lease’s Isabella Gardens retirement living development in Canberra achieved Gold level certification from Livable Housing Australia
Livable Housing Australia also provides a nationally-recognised certification program for homes that meet the Silver, Gold or Platinum levels described in the Guidelines. The ‘Livability’ Quality Mark is the consumers’ guarantee that a home has been built with flexibility, safety and ease of access in mind. It’s a trusted rating that provides peace of mind by ensuring that the home loved today will be one that can be lived in tomorrow.
Free downloads of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines are available from www.lha.org.au, the AppStore and Google Play. To find out more about certifying a project, please contact aaitken@lha.org.au.
