© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
The Disability Discrimination Act, as applied to residential blocks of flats, is a grey area because this law, the DDA, is not fully ‘tested’ and is at present being formed by case law.
Advising, therefore, on complex law that was formed for the broad premise of non-discrimination and is still going through various legal stages, is not easy. However, there are pointers that will make dealing with the issues raised a little easier to incorporate into policies.
Firstly, please do not assume that because, on paper, one is not required to actually do anything to assist the access of disabled people into a private block of flats that this will always be the case. The Disability Rights Commission (and ARMA, amongst other interested parties) is currently giving evidence to the government via a Joint Committee to the House of Commons. In time the law will change to allow full and easy access. It is better to anticipate the needs of disabled people and start making your property fully accessible now.
Consider your tenants. Are they, in the main, in an older age group? We all, by the age of seventy years have a seventy per cent chance of acquiring an impairment. It is advisable to incorporate preparation for change into wider plans.
Does this mean property managers will have to put in ramps in buildings where the visiting public do not have rights of access per se? Not necessarily. Options have to be examined and design solutions made that will allow reasonable access for disabled people, both tenants and visitors. This can be done, for the most part, inexpensively. A ramp, for example, will add value to most properties: for delivery firms using trolleys, for people pushing prams and for those who find steps a little bit challenging. Wheelchair users constitute only a small percentage of disabled people. Reasonable access has to be made, for example, for blind people, those with other mobility impairments and deaf people.
To get ahead of the game, it is best to get a DDA audit / survey done. This should give a direct and clear overview of the issues from the perspectives of all impairments, plus examine specific problem areas. It will offer design options as well as conventional solutions. It should give prices, photographs, drawings and project management, if required. Ideally, it will provide both bound and electronic copies for ease of use.
Richard Gard is Policy Officer for the National Landords Association, Tel: 0870 241 0471; www.landlords.org.uk
Kit Wells is Director, Arcadian Access, Nationwide DDA Access Consultants, Auditors and Surveyors; Tel, 0207 4300108; 01430 430100; mail@arcadian-uk.com