Will Building Boom Create Homes Fit For Stairlifts?

People living in places like Pudsey will often be dwelling in older properties that were built without many modern living conditions in mind. Outdoors, narrow streets can pose challenges for parking. Indoors, narrow staircases mean that those who need a stairlift will require very specially designed ones.

This may beg the question of whether future homes will be built with the potential provision of stairlifts in mind, enabling owners to remain in them when they get less mobile in later life, or if accident or illness reduces their mobility at an earlier age.

Such questions may be asked at a time when a lot is happening to bolster the construction sector. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics has shown not only that the UK has bounced back well from the brief recession last year, but construction has seen the greatest rebound.

Although output fell as recently as April, hampered as it was by a lot of rain, it grew by 1.9 per cent in May, faster growth than the rest of the economy.

That means more homes being built, a situation that may be boosted if, as expected, the Bank of England starts cutting interest rates soon.

In addition, the election of a new government has been swiftly followed by the new chancellor Rachel Reeves promising to “get Britain building” with reforms to planning law. Much of this will concern reclassifying low-quality greenbelt as ‘grey belt’ to permit building.

Leeds, in particular, may be impacted by this, since the city’s boundaries stretch so far beyond the built-up area.   

Of course, more new homes are needed in Leeds as elsewhere, but with the population both growing and ageing, it may be a helpful design element for homes to be built with mobility concerns in mind.

Thankfully, with the kind of flexible technology that now allows for the installation of fold-up stairlifts that take up less room, or ones designed to work on curved staircases, there will still be a solution for almost every home, whether or not a building boom produces properties designed with this in mind.