Growing old is an unfortunate fact of life and one that we all have to deal with when the time comes. A heartbreaking facet of aging is losing your home that has housed you for x amount of years, or for some, for their entire lifetime. So you can imagine how it would destroy you to be told that you can no longer reside in your own comfort and must live in a stuffy old-peoples home where you all await the inevitable. It is reasons such as these that the government is encouraging local councils to look at ways they can improve the town and make particular areas more accessible to the aged.



A new government strategy that went into development early this year proposes, among other things, that every new home built from now on should be styled to best accommodate the elderly. As an aging nation the new home designs are being implemented slowly by builders and construction companies who have until 2013 (when it becomes compulsory) to adopt the "lifetime homes" legislation into their models.

There are up to sixteen features to be incorporated which include space enough for wheelchair access and easy manoeuvrability, downstairs bathrooms and stairs wide enough to add stairlifts without too much inconvenience. The new homes aim to help the aged live for as long as they want in their own home and retain as much independence as they can in safety.

This is only the first initiative in the "lifetime homes, lifetime neighbourhoods" scheme being employed by the government who are holding increasing meetings with councils and town planners to make towns and villages more elderly-friendly. The measures being taken involve improving street lighting, positioning bus stops with more consideration as well as toilets and other amenities, and bettering kerbs and paving.

Charitable organisations such as Help the Aged and Age Concern are of course big supporters of this new initiative but not everyone is a fan. The NFH (National Federation of Housebuilders) think that this is "another costly policy" and believe the money could be better spent elsewhere. But there has been a severe lack of consultation between the government and the industry professionals. Now builders are under a lot of pressure at the moment to make energy efficient homes, with this new lifetime homes standard added on top it is going to be increasingly difficult to construct the hundreds of thousands of new affordable homes that are needed.