For Housing New Zealand, accessibility is about the features of the homes we already have and will be building in the future that make it easy:
• for people to live in them with independence and dignity
• to have family/whānau and friends visit
• to have the opportunity to be part of the community they live in without barriers • for people to be safe in their homes.
With respect to our homes, Housing New Zealand’s standards set out accessibility as having two parts:
-
Typical lifetime design
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Diverse lifetime design.
For Housing New Zealand, universal design means that customers have step-free access from their home’s parking area into the main living level, and have access to features of their home used on a daily basis, such as an outdoor living area, laundry and cooking facilities, bedrooms and bathrooms.
The table below sets out the broad categories of Housing New Zealand’s properties, their current state, and what the category of properties may look like in the future.
The table particularly highlights the accessibility-focused lifetime design principles included in our current design standard. For Housing New Zealand, lifetime design is about a home being usable, adaptable, accessible, safe and offering lifetime value.
1 Note that the description of accessibility features in table 1 excludes insulation, acoustics, solar orientation, and mechanical extraction features, as these design features and requirements apply to all of Housing New Zealand’s new build homes. The table also excludes any features specific to our Community Group Housing homes.
Table 1: Housing New Zealand’s different categories of properties, their current and potential future states.
|
Property category |
Current state |
Future state |
|
Current housing stock (existing properties) |
As repairs are needed we will replace with certain features, for example lever handles, grab-rails |
Our future state may include investigating if we can achieve more universal design features in our homes that are going through our retrofit programme, pending evaluation of the retrofit pilot (see page 29). |
|
Basic universal design – all new builds |
Base standards, for example: Access: • Wide paths from car-parking area and street may include accessible steps with handrail • Wide paved access to external service areas (rubbish, storage and clothes drying) • Sheltered landing with level threshold at entry door • 1050mm wide internal hallways and stairs with wide 860mm internal doors suitable • 1500mm min turning circle to kitchen Usability: • Door and cabinetry handles easily used (lever or bow) • Light switches aligned with door handles to enable easy location • Electrical sockets 500mm min above floor level to minimise bending Safety: • Slip resistant flooring to bathrooms and kitchens • All stairs have handrails Adaptability: • Bathroom size suitable for conversion to accessible if needed in the future |
Potentially reviewing the base standards to ensure they continue to be fit for purpose. |
|
Full universal design new builds |
Access: All features included above plus: • Wide paths from car-parking area and street, step free where possible or the ability to install a ramp at a future date if required Usability: All features included above plus: • Include a bedroom & bathroom on the same level as the main living Safety: All features included above Adaptability: • Bathroom size suitable for conversion to accessible if needed in the future |
Review of lifetime design standard to ensure it meets universal design in the context of HNZ, including access around the property and inside the home. Starting with an at-least 15% target, which will increase over time. Most people, whether they are disabled or not, are able to remain in their home through more significant changes in their situation. Much more easily modified if change is required. |
|
Accessible Housing Standard – purpose built for people with different groups of needs - not built for specific individuals |
Access: All features included above plus: • Step-free access in and around building including ramps and handrails to suit land contour • Step-free threshold at all external doors • 1200mm wide internal hallways with 300mm gap on leading edge for improved access to door handle • 1500mm min turning circle to all rooms • Larger 12m2 min accessible bedroom Usability: All features included above plus: • Kitchen bench continuous (not galley) • Door and cabinetry handles easily used (lever or bow) • Light switch by bedhead • Adjustable height hanging rail to wardrobe • Direct-stick carpet to minimise the chance of stretching under the action of wheel chairs, which could be a trip hazard Safety: All features included above plus: • Safety flooring to wet area accessible bathrooms • Grab rails installed in the shower and toilet of fully-accessible properties Adaptability: All features included above plus: • Bathroom walls lined to enable future fixing of grab rails • Space for fully accessible kitchen to suit specific customers’ needs • Smoke detectors adaptable to visual/vibrating to suit customer |
We are undertaking research to better understand customers’ needs to inform a more planned approach to this Will accommodate most specialised equipment and support people or caregivers who may need to stay. May need some customisation, which should be easy to achieve. |
|
Customised accessible housing standard |
Usability: • Adding drawers to kitchen units to minimise bending and ease of access for wheelchair users • Side opening wall oven • Oven and fridge have minimum of 300mm clearance to walls/corners to facilitate access |
We are committed to providing homes that meet our customers’ needs, and if this means we cannot modify their homes adequately we need to consider modifying another property or a new build option to suit their needs includes those who may not need many changes to their homes, but the changes are specialised. Includes those customers who have very specific needs. |
CURRENT STANDARD: TYPICAL LIFETIME DESIGN
For Housing New Zealand’s context, our current typical lifetime design standard broadly reflects universal design and this will be reviewed in light of our Accessibility Policy. Our current Typical Lifetime Design standard means:
- incorporating features into the design of a property that will suit more people for longer
- properties are more likely to suit as people’s situations change, for example injury, aging, and/or unexpected changes to mobility
- it is significantly easier and cheaper to modify the property to meet individual needs if required, for example to modify a property to suit someone with a deteriorating visual condition
- our diverse properties are available when looking to place customers who require these accessible features.
Incorporating universal design features and functions into a home can make it
- safer and easier to use for everyone
- easier for people with temporary injuries
- easier for disabled visitors and/or for visitors who have children
- easier to occupy without modifying layouts.
DIVERSE LIFETIME DESIGN
Some people need housing solutions that are more specialised for and specific to their needs. This includes consideration of particular groups, for example older people, as well as properties that have features that are needed by a particular individual, for example a ramp to get into and out of the home, or a fire alarm suitable for a person who is hard of hearing or part of the Deaf community.
CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Housing New Zealand is conscious there are important cultural considerations in how we approach accessibility design, construction and maintenance, and we are seeking to better understand this so we can be sure we offer culturally appropriate responses. Some of this work will occur through continuing to research and establish cultural considerations and requirements as they relate to accessibility. We know we also want to do better at incorporating cultural considerations into how we interact with our customers.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY?
We know from the 2013 New Zealand Census that in the general New Zealand population, 24 percent were identified as disabled, a total of 1.1 million people. For adults, physical limitations were the most common type of impairment. Eighteen percent of people aged 15 or over were physically impaired. This is 64 percent of disabled adults. Māori and Pacific peoples had higher-than-average disability rates, after adjusting for differences in age between the different ethnic populations.
Note that this information is about disability categories, and different types of disabilities, not about people’s accessibility needs.
The older you are, the more likely you are to be disabled. People aged 65 or over were much more likely to be disabled (59 percent) than adults under 65 years (21 percent) or children under 15 years (11 percent). Figure 3 shows the number of non-disabled and disabled people in New Zealand in 2013 (when the last national Disability Survey was run), by age.
The general disabled population in New Zealand is getting older, just as the non-disabled population is. Figure 4 shows that by 2038, the portion of the disabled population who are 65 years old and over is projected to increase significantly. Living with a disability over the age of 65 can present particular challenges and potential barriers when it comes to living well and independently.
Figure 5 shows that not only is the New Zealand disabled population increasing, but that there will be more people living with all types of disabilities (impairments) by 2038. In 2013, sensory (for example, sight and hearing impairments), and physical impairments were the two most common types of impairments, at 11 percent of the population. The incidence increases with age: for example, in 2013, 15 percent of disabled adults aged 45-64 reported having a sensory impairment, and 17 percent reported having a physical impairment. For disabled adults aged 65 and over, the percentage reporting a sensory impairment increased to 33 percent, while those reporting a physical impairment also increased, to 49 percent. By 2038, not only will sensory and physical impairments still be the two most common kinds of impairments, but there will be significantly more people of all ages living with them. It is also important to note in the context of figure 5 below, that psychiatric and psychological impairments do not represent the full spectrum of mental health issues affecting New Zealanders.
