"Visitability" Regulations Increasing Availability of User Friendly Homes Nationwide, AARP Reports
Source: AARP Press Center | 2008-09-10
September 10, 2008
Contact: Nancy Thompson, AARP, 202-434-2560, nthompson@aarp.org
With aging boomers determined to live in their current homes as they get older, more states and jurisdictions are requiring builders to make new homes easy to visit for people of all ages and abilities by building in ground level entry, wider halls and a roomy half bath on the first floor, according to a new report from AARP. The report from the association’s Public Policy Institute finds that homes with barrier free ground floors are becoming more commonplace in cities like Atlanta, Tucson, San Antonio, and Birmingham, where local and state ordinances set visitability standards for new homes.
“Most boomers are in their peak home buying years,” said Elinor Ginzler, AARP Senior Vice President for Livable Communities. “Visitability can make it possible for them to enjoy their new home with family and friends now and with company later as they get older.
In 1992 Atlanta became the first city to mandate visitability. Last year five more communities followed suit. Currently eleven states and 24 communities have visitability mandates for certain new construction. [See full list below.] Accessible standards that include visitability also have been incorporated in the increasingly popular LEED Green Building Rating™.
According to the AARP report “Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability,” from the Association’s Public Policy Institute, the number of persons age 65 and older will grow to almost 40 million by 2010 and 70 million by 2030. In a 2007 survey by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) 72% of remodelers reported modifying homes for aging-in-place needs, up from 60% in 2006.
“Boomers have seen their parents constrained by single-family homes with front steps and narrow interior doors -- particularly bathroom doors,” said Ginzler. Logic says that the next house any boomer buys should be barrier free.”
The majority of mandatory visitability initiatives apply only to homes built with public funds, but Pima County, AZ; Naperville, IL; Bolingbrook, IL; Arvada, CO and Lafayette, CO require visitability for all new homes. The cities and counties with the most visitable homes are (in order) Pima County, AZ; San Antonio, TX; Bolingbrook, IL; and Austin, TX.
Federal law requires access for people impeded by standard architectural elements for all new multifamily residences and a small percentage (5 percent) of single family units constructed with public funds. Current housing policy, therefore, does not address the vast majority of single-family homes, in which most people in the United States live.
A visitable home is marked by three core architectural conditions:
• One zero-step entrance at the front, back, or side of the house, depending on site conditions
• Doorways that provide thirty-two inches of clearance
• At least a half bath on the main floor that is large enough to accommodate a wheel chair
The goal of visibility is to provide a few basic accessibility features, thereby ensuring that, over the short term, a person who needs help getting around can use and visit the homes of friends and family and that, over the long term, few barriers interfere with adapting the home for long-term use by a person with such limitations.
According to the report, builders of visitable homes report that they sell as easily as homes without such features and some builders report using visitability as a selling feature. “I’m convinced some of our buyers would not have bought if we hadn’t had the features,” said one builder interviewed for the report.
*Localities include Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Urbana, IL; Fort Worth, TX; Long Beach, CA; San Antonio, TX; Iowa City, IA; Chicago, IL; St. Louis County, MO; St. Petersburg, FL; Toledo, OH; Auburn, NY; Scranton, PA; Milwaukee, WI; Davis, CA; Rockford, IL; Dublin City, CA; Tucson, AZ; Pine Lake, GA; Naperville, IL; Pima County, AZ; Bolingbrook, IL; Arvada, CO; and Lafayette, CO.
**States include Texas, Georgia, Minnesota, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Vermont.
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 33 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 40 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
