Morning:
13°c
An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
London faces a wave of bus and Tube strikes that could cause chaos for millions of passengers as unions walkout over pay and conditions
More...
All new homes to be 'pensioner-friendly' with downstairs bathrooms and wide stairs
Last updated at 11:22am on 26.02.08Every new home must be designed to suit older people under plans unveiled by ministers yesterday.
By 2011 developments will have to conform to 16 specifications for an ageing population, such as stairs wide enough for stairlifts.
Campaign groups broadly welcomed the changes, though they questioned why private sector developers would not have to conform until 2013.
Scroll down for more...
How future homes may look...
Ministers say the reforms will help more people stay in their own homes, as well as avoiding the need for costly adaptations as owners age.
Opposition MPs accused the Government of a "failure in joined-up thinking", claiming it had cut funding designed to help the elderly to remain in their homes.
Builders said the cost of the measures could make it impossible to fulfil the Government's aim of building three million homes by 2020.
The Government, however, said the changes were vital to address rapid growth in the number of older households.
Gordon Brown said: "I want our homes to be places that help us adapt as we age."
The Prime Minister added: "This strategy sets out a package of measures that will enable more older people to live in high quality, warm environments that are suited to their needs."
Under the plans, all public housing will have to be built to the "lifetime homes" standard by 2011.
Ministers hope private sector developers will also conform, with the threat of a review in 2013 if they do not.
The House Builders Association, which represents about 800 developers, aired concern that there had been "inadequate consultation" over the plans.
"We are asking ministers for urgent discussions to try to understand how they think it will work," said a spokesman.
Tory housing spokesman Grant Shapps said: "We welcome moves to ensure that housing is fit for people of all ages and levels of ability.
"But we are concerned that the Government has sprung these moves on business."
Liberal Democrat communities spokesman Julia Goldsworthy said: "The Government is still failing thousands of older people who are struggling to remain in their homes. This is a real failure in joined-up thinking."
Reader views (2)
Every one of these changes comes at a price. So as we have seen before, when you see that house prices have risen 10, 20, 30% in a year, look no further than the hugely increasing costs of building them.
- Will, London
And how much will the government's meddling cost in addition to all the other stupid regulations New Labour loves to impose upon the country?
- Eric Murphy, London, UK
