Frain J P, Carr P H
Anchor Housing Association, Oxford.
Age Ageing. 1996 Sep;25(5):398-401. doi: 10.1093/ageing/25.5.398.
Independence in their own homes is desirable for most people but illness and disability in later life may make this impossible unless aids are provided and adaptations made to the home. The cost of these changes may be high. The most recent proposals for revision of the United Kingdom Building Regulations include provision for making all new homes adaptable so that occupants who become disabled may continue living in them. A letter was sent to the largest British house-building companies to assess the extent to which their homes are capable of easy modification in the future. This was followed by a telephone survey of non-respondents. The response rate overall was 88% with 49% providing written replies. Only 3% of companies had designed and built adaptable housing; these are still at the trial stage. Many companies will modify houses if requested to do so in the construction phase but demand for such alterations is low. Most companies accept that houses can be adaptable but economic reasons largely prevent them from doing so. Adaptable housing for those seeking 'homes for life' is not a high priority of building companies.
对大多数人来说，能在自己家中独立生活是理想的状态，但晚年的疾病和残疾可能会使这变得不可能，除非提供辅助设施并对房屋进行改造。这些改造的成本可能很高。英国建筑法规修订的最新提案包括规定使所有新房屋具备适应性，以便残疾居住者能够继续在其中生活。已致信英国最大的房屋建筑公司，以评估其房屋未来易于改造的程度。随后对未回复的公司进行了电话调查。总体回复率为88%，其中49%提供了书面答复。只有3%的公司设计并建造了适应性住房；这些仍处于试验阶段。许多公司会在施工阶段应要求对房屋进行改造，但对此类改造的需求较低。大多数公司承认房屋可以具备适应性，但经济原因在很大程度上阻碍了他们这样做。为那些寻求“终身住房”的人提供适应性住房并非建筑公司的首要任务。
