The brief
Habinteg Housing Association is a registered social housing provider with over 50 years’ experience building and promoting accessible homes and communities. As a social landlord, Habinteg owns and manages more than 3,300 homes across more than 80 English local authorities.
Habinteg Housing Association’s mission is to create accessible homes and communities that welcome and include everyone by using thoughtful, high quality urban design to deliver new housing with minimum disruption to the surrounding existing neighbourhoods.
Lawson Court stands on the site of the Mali Jenkins care home, which closed in 2017. Habinteg purchased the site in early 2021 with the aim of redeveloping it into an 18 unit block of flats. The site sits within a leafy, suburban setting, and lies within 1.5 miles of Walsall Railway Station, which offers regular services to Birmingham.
Lawson Court was guided by several key principles. The development had to:
- Optimise the number of residential dwellings the site could hold
- Offer a mix of living options, including adaptable and wheelchair-accessible homes
- Achieve practical, well-proportioned, high quality homes.
- Protect the privacy and amenity of near neighbours.
- Have a distinct character and sense of place.
Head of Development, Matthew Kelly, said: “There’s currently a severe housing shortage for the specialist accessible housing that Habinteg provides, like wheelchair accessible homes, in these areas. Our developments will help to alleviate this.
“Making use of disused buildings and continuing to deliver much needed accessible housing is a key element of our development aspirations.”
The new development
Completed in September 2024, Lawson Court is now a development of 18 flats consisting of 12 general needs accessible and adaptable homes, and six wheelchair accessible homes. The site boasts a landscaped communal garden that provides a quiet space for residents to connect and unwind.
The scheme was designed by Acanthus WSM Architects and built by local construction company, J. Harper & Sons, who have worked to deliver a high specification development that provides local people with affordable and accessible homes.
The homes meet the requirements of Building Regulations Approved Document M Optional access standards M4(3) wheelchair user dwellings and M4(2) accessible and adaptable dwellings.
An accessible sustainable solution
The scheme includes six wheelchair accessible properties, and is now home to local disabled people and families. The development has an energy efficient design by Acanthus WSM Architects that will help reduce energy bills for its residents, glass balconies on its upper floors, and features a landscaped communal garden and a parking court.
The M4(2) accessible and adaptable homes provide:
- Suitable door widths to in line with ADM M4(3) wheelchair user dwellings to facilitate wheelchair users
- Walls strong enough to support grab rails, shower seats and any other load bearing adaptations
- Drainage installed to the main bathroom at point of build to allow for future level-access shower installation
- Switches, sockets and other controls in locations that are accessible to someone with reduced reach.
The Wheelchair accessible M4(3) b homes include:
- A wheelchair accessible kitchen with adjustable sections of worktop for the sink, hob and a side opening oven
- A fully wheelchair accessible bathroom with a level access shower and accessible wash hand basins
- Low-level windows to the principal living areas to ensure views of the outside.
Resident impact
Catalina Ionita, who moved into a wheelchair user home on the new development, said she will take full advantage of all the facilities and added: “I feel incredibly happy. The flat has wider doors, a height-adjustable hob – which makes cooking so much easier now – and a wet room with no obstacles in my way. I’m really grateful to be living here as, now, I can live a truly independent life.”
Habinteg’s Head of Development, Matthew Kelly, said: “The scheme has delivered much-needed affordable, accessible homes to the neighbourhood. The great design by Acanthus WSM Architects has made a positive impact to the area by breathing new life into a building that wasn’t contributing to the community.”
Throughout the scheme’s construction, builder J. Harper & Sons achieved its target of 80% locally employed suppliers and subcontractors. In addition, the company worked closely with Walsall College to provide work experience site visits for Level 1 Bricklaying students.
The value of a CAE design review
Lawson Court shows what accessible housing can achieve when schemes are assessed against Approved Document M Category 2 (accessible and adaptable) and Category 3 (wheelchair user) standards.
CAE can support design teams, developers, architects and housing providers:
- Identify access any issues against ADM Category 2/3 standards before submitting to planning
- Get practical support on design mitigations where compliance issues arise
- Deliver homes that are more inclusive
For housing providers wanting to go beyond the minimum standards, CAE and Habinteg have published the Inclusive Housing Design Guide (IHDG).
The IHDG is a best practice handbook for architects, planners and developers on delivering housing that is functional, inclusive and meets the changing needs of people of all ages, including older and disabled people. It is authored by Jacquel Runnalls and lead peer reviewed by Dr Marney Walker. Copies are available here.
Want to know more about housing standards?
Attend CAE’s training on the principles and technical standards for wheelchair accessible housing in Accessible Housing: Understanding Approved Document M, Volume 1: Dwellings.
The training provides a comprehensive introduction to the different housing categories in the regulations applicable in England. It highlights the essential design distinctions between ‘adaptable and accessible dwellings’ and ‘wheelchair user dwellings’. It is ideal for a wide range of professionals – including architects, occupational therapists, designers and builders.