Building Regulations Part M: Accessibility for Self Builds

exterior of an accessible home extension
A House for Theo and Oskar is an award-winning house renovation by Tigg Coll Architects. (Image credit: Andy Matthews c/o Tigg Coll Architects)

With one in five of the UK population classed as living with a disability, Buildings Regulations Part M is an important of our building control measures. After all, that equates to over 14 million of us who currently have some sort of disability and that number is growing as we live longer. Our own homes need to be suitable for us to carry on living in them as independently as we can for as long as we can.

This part of Building Regulations has been in the spotlight in recent years, as back in 2020 then Housing Minister Robert Jenrick launched a consultation to evaluate how home's in the UK could be better designed to be more adaptable and accessible — with the goal of creating more lifetime homes in the future. 

Paul Hymers

Paul is a Chartered Building Engineer and has been a building control officer since 1984. He has written eight books on home improvements and building homes, including the Complete Handbook of Home Extensions and Creating an Eco-Friendly Home & Workplace. He provides his insight and knowledge on Building Regulations with Homebuilding & Renovating.