Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4

Front cover of Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4Livable Housing Australia has redesigned their website information related to the Livable Housing Design Guidelines v4. Gone from the front page is the pdf book style of their fourth version. Replacing it is a stripped-down online version focusing on the three levels in the original guide. There is more emphasis on the expanding Supported Disability Accommodation (SDA) housing market and recruiting housing assessors. The Downloads section of the Livable Housing Australia website has the PDF of the Guidelines and the SDA standard.

The home page promotes, “safer, more comfortable and easier to access homes for everybody”. This fits with their policy of voluntary uptake of the features rather than having them included in the building code.  

For more housing design guidelines go to the Housing Design Guidelines section of this website.

2021 Update

The Silver level of the guidelines will be included in the National Construction Code in 2022. Not all states will adopt these features in their regulations. Victoria, Queensland, ACT, Tasmania and NT can expect to see new builds with these features in the future. The section of this website on housing design policy has more background. 

Some History: 

The original idea was to have the Guidelines applied to all new housing by 2020. However, it is difficult to apply voluntary guidelines in an industry governed by mandatory building codes and standards. These Guidelines were endorsed by COAG and are cited in government policy documents. Note the spelling of Livable is particular to these guidelines as a brand name by Livable Housing Australia.

The Livable Housing Design Guidelines are a great resource for individuals, builders and building design professionals. It advises what to consider in home design to make it more comfortable, easy to use regardless of age or level of ability. Not all homes will be able to apply all the good ideas. However, doing what you can is a good start for both occupants and visitors alike.

Accessibility Toolbar