A home can look beautiful in an architect's drawings, photograph perfectly for a property listing and feel like a dream come true on moving day. But how well will it work in five, ten or twenty years? Will it still support its owners if their circumstances change? And has accessibility been considered from the beginning, or left to be dealt with later?
These are important questions for anyone designing, building or renovating a home. Yet accessibility is still too often associated with specific mobility needs, older age or adaptations made after a problem arises. The result can be homes that work brilliantly for some people today but become increasingly difficult to live in as their needs evolve.
At Grand Designs Live 2026, Uplifts brought this challenge to the stage with its Design Better: Why inclusive homes should be the standard session.
Featuring Louis Stannah, sixth-generation family member, alongside Uplifts' in-house Occupational Therapist Kate Sheehan and Architectural Designer Karl Lumsden, the discussion explored why inclusive design needs to become a more fundamental part of residential architecture.
The principle behind it is straightforward: better homes should work for more people, for longer.
Why is accessibility still an afterthought?
When planning a new home, the focus naturally falls on the things that make it distinctive. The layout, the natural light, the kitchen, the materials and the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces all help shape the finished design.
Accessibility can be harder to visualise, particularly when everyone involved is able to move around the proposed space without difficulty. If there is no immediate reason to think about mobility, it can be tempting to assume that the existing design will continue to work indefinitely.
But life rarely follows a fixed plan.
A family may welcome an older relative into their home. Someone may experience an injury or develop a condition that affects their mobility. A homeowner who has comfortably used the stairs for decades may eventually find them more challenging. Even without a significant change in health, everyday needs can shift as families grow and circumstances evolve.
The problem with leaving accessibility until later is that the original design may make adaptations more complicated than they need to be. A staircase may occupy the only practical location for a future homelift, doorways may be difficult to widen, or a bathroom may be situated where it is least useful for someone with reduced mobility.
Thinking about these possibilities early does not mean designing for a worst-case scenario. It means giving people more options.
Why inclusive design should start at concept stage
The most effective time to consider accessibility is when a home is still being planned.
At concept stage, architects and designers have the greatest opportunity to think about how people will move through a property, how its rooms connect and whether its layout can accommodate different needs over time.
That might mean considering step-free access at the entrance, planning a practical ground-floor bathroom, allowing generous circulation space or thinking carefully about the position and design of a staircase.
It can also mean considering whether a future homelift could be incorporated into the building without disrupting the overall layout.
These decisions do not all require immediate investment in specialist equipment. Sometimes, the most valuable step is simply preserving the option to make a change later.
For example, identifying a suitable location for a homelift during the design process can give homeowners and their architects another option to explore if moving between floors becomes more difficult in the future. It is far easier to consider that possibility when the layout is being developed than to discover that the only suitable location would compromise an important part of the home.
Good planning is not about predicting exactly what will happen. It is about creating flexibility for whatever happens next.
Moving beyond minimum Building Regulations
Building Regulations play an important role in establishing standards for safety, accessibility and the built environment. Meeting the relevant requirements is an essential part of responsible design and construction.
But compliance and genuinely inclusive design are not necessarily the same thing.
A home can meet the applicable requirements and still be difficult for a particular person to navigate. Equally, a design that goes further in considering how people live, move and use their surroundings may offer greater flexibility and comfort over the long term.
The important question is not simply whether a home meets the required standard. It is whether the design has considered the people who will live there and how their needs might change.
For architects, developers and specifiers, this creates an opportunity to look beyond a checklist. How easy is it to enter the property? Can the ground floor accommodate everyday living if the upper floor becomes less accessible? Is there enough space to manoeuvre comfortably? Could the home be adapted without extensive disruption?
These questions encourage a more thoughtful approach to residential design, one that considers usability alongside appearance, efficiency and cost.
Can an accessible home still be beautiful?
One of the most persistent misconceptions about accessibility is that it requires a compromise in design.
Images of institutional environments, conspicuous adaptations or equipment that appears out of place can influence perceptions of what accessible living looks like. But a thoughtfully designed home does not have to choose between being practical and being beautiful.
Inclusive design can be integrated into the architecture itself.
Wide circulation spaces can feel generous rather than clinical. Well-planned lighting can improve both the atmosphere of a room and the ease with which people navigate it. A step-free entrance can form part of an elegant approach to the property. And where a homelift is appropriate, it can be considered as an architectural feature rather than an addition that has to be hidden away.
Homelifts are particularly relevant to homes where the ability to move between floors is important to the layout. Depending on the property and the model selected, a homelift may offer a way to retain the benefits of a multi-storey home while making it easier to access different levels.
For a homeowner, that could mean continuing to enjoy an upstairs bedroom, accessing a favourite living space or making more of the home they have invested in.
For an architect, it means treating vertical access as part of the design conversation from the outset, rather than waiting for it to become a problem.
Designing homes people can live in for life
The idea of a home for life is appealing, but it takes more than good intentions to achieve it.
A property that works perfectly for a young couple may need to function differently when they have children. A home that suits a busy family today may eventually need to accommodate an older relative or support a homeowner whose mobility has changed.
Designing for these possibilities can help reduce the pressure to move simply because a property no longer meets someone's needs.
It is important to recognise that no single design can anticipate every eventuality, and not every home can be adapted indefinitely. But incorporating flexibility into the initial plan can make a meaningful difference.
This is where the expertise of different professionals becomes valuable. Architects can consider the spatial and structural implications. Occupational therapists can help identify practical barriers to everyday living. Homelift specialists can explain the options available for moving between floors and the considerations involved in incorporating a lift into a property.
Bringing these perspectives together can help homeowners make more informed decisions before construction begins or renovation work gets underway.
The role of architects and specifiers in creating more inclusive homes
Architects, developers and specifiers have a significant influence on how the homes of the future will look and function.
Their decisions determine not only the immediate experience of a property but also how easily it may accommodate changing needs. By considering accessibility as a standard part of the design process, rather than a specialist requirement for a minority of occupants, they can help create homes that work for a broader range of people.
That means asking the right questions early, discussing potential adaptations with clients and understanding the available solutions before the layout is finalised.
It also means challenging assumptions. Accessibility is not exclusively an issue for older people, nor is it relevant only to households where someone already has a disability. A home designed with flexibility in mind can benefit people at many different stages of life.
For developers, this approach can help ensure that the homes being built today remain practical for their owners tomorrow. For individual homeowners, it can provide greater confidence that their property has been planned with the future in mind.
How homelifts fit into the future of inclusive design
As a specialist in homelifts and accessibility solutions, Uplifts believes that thoughtful design can help people remain independent and comfortable in their homes for longer.
A homelift is not the right solution for every property or every household. Its suitability depends on factors including the building layout, the available space, the intended use and the needs of the people living there.
But where moving between floors could become a barrier, it is an option worth considering early.
In a new-build home, a homelift can be discussed alongside the staircase, room layout and circulation space. In a renovation, it may offer another way to improve access between floors while retaining the character and functionality of an existing property.
The key is to understand the possibilities before design decisions limit them.
This is the thinking behind Uplifts' Design Better campaign: encouraging homeowners and industry professionals to recognise accessibility as an integral part of great residential design.
Better homes begin with better design
Inclusive homes should not be the exception reserved for people who already know they need them. They should be part of a broader approach to creating properties that are practical, attractive and adaptable throughout life.
That does not mean every home needs the same features or that every future challenge can be anticipated. It means making considered decisions, questioning assumptions and giving people more options wherever possible.
For anyone planning a new build, renovation or residential development, the opportunity is to start asking these questions sooner.
Because the best time to think about how a home will work in the future is before the design is set in stone.
Planning a new build or renovation?
Explore Uplifts homelifts to discover how vertical access can form part of a more inclusive home design. You can also speak to the Uplifts team about the considerations involved in incorporating a homelift into your project.