Livable Housing Design Guidelines

Livable Housing Design Guidelines assist Australians to design and certify their current or future home for a lifetime of living.

Livable Housing Australia (LHA) is a partnership between community and consumer groups, government and industry.  LHA champions the mainstream adoption of livable housing design principles in all new homes built in Australia.  LHA arose from the Kirribilli Dialogue on Universal Housing Design, which established nationally agreed guidelines on designing and building livable homes.

The Livable Housing Guidelines which have been developed by industry and the community provide assurance that a home is easier to access, navigate and live in, as well more cost effective to adapt when life’s circumstances change.

People with a disability and their families will benefit from Livable Homes that enable them to take advantage of better housing choices and gives them the opportunity to visit the homes of friends and relatives.

Livable Homes also benefit:

• Families with young children
• People who sustain a temporary injury 
• People who are ageing 

Certification Process

Achieving the Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of design provide the basis for home has been designed and built with livability in mind.

Achieving a rating involves an assessment at the design and/or as built stages of your project by a qualified industry professional including architects, building designers, builders, occupational therapists, access consultants and building surveyors.

All architects, building designers, builders, occupational therapists, access consultants and building surveyors who have professional currency and professional indemnity currency are encouraged to work with the LHA Guidelines.  These professions are able to attribute that a home has been designed to meet  LHA principles, unless otherwise mandated by the planning or development authority.

Some clients wish to have the certification acknowledged with the LHA Silver, Gold or Platinum logo. Only architects, building designers, builders, occupational therapists, access consultants and building surveyors who have completed the required RTO course, maintain currency of occupation and insurance, registered with LHA, and listed on www.lha.org.au can assign the LHA Silver, Gold, or Platinum.

LHA Design Guideline Assessors registered with LHA and listed on their website can design or assess a design or an as built house as meeting the Livable Housing Silver, Gold or Platinum levels.  They can assign the use of an LHA Silver, Gold or Platinum logo to a design or a built home based on their assessment which can then market the home as being livable to future home buyers. The LHA website lists several Canberra-based assesors. 

Further Information 

Livable Housing Design Guidelines (Reviewed in June 2017) 

Try LHA's Self Assessment Tool to check where your current or future house design is livable

Find an Assessor

Register a Project

Become a Registered LHA Assessor