Housing Feature
Housing Feature
Figure one: Housing design factors impacting on neurodivergent people and those with learning disability
needs of neurodiverse residents and those with learning disabilities to support daily life, autonomy, and wellbeing.
• Outline physical and mental health benefits of designing homes to meet identified needs.
• Explain how these housing design requirements align with and differ from minimum requirements of English Building Regulations Approved Document M( ADM)( HM Government 2015).
• Analyse the design of Newham housing stock, to consider whether it meets identified needs.
The project team adopted a mixed method, which involved a review of existing evidence, legislation and policies, consultation with all key stakeholders, and workshops with residents, all of which informed the development of design guidance.
Evidenced based design
A scoping review of academic and grey literature using a structured approach was conducted to identify good evidenced based practice in housing design in terms of physical and mental health benefits for this population.
Alongside physical access, key factors identified as equally important for both groups included: location and connectivity, safety and security, flexibility of space and layout, durability and sensory processing( see figure one).
Current housing provision in Newham
Visits to four recently completed housing schemes provided critical insights into the current design of
housing in Newham and whether it addresses the needs of neurodivergent residents and those with learning disability.
These were a mixture of private and affordable homes, delivered by both private developers and the council. Due to the constraints of a highdensity housing provision in this urban context, these are predominantly high-rise apartment blocks.
In accordance with the London Plan requirements for inclusive and accessible housing a proportion were built to ADM Category 2 accessible and adaptable( M4( 2) with a proportion built to Category 3: Wheelchair user dwellings M4( 3) standards.
While these standards consider some aspects of physical access, they fall short in addressing issues specific to this population related to sensory regulation including acoustics, thermal regulation. They do not provide guidance on durability of fixtures and fittings, or ways to address safety and security that account for risk seeking behaviours.
Stakeholder engagement
To familiarise ourselves with the context we conducted meetings with all key stakeholders. Meetings with those concerned with service delivery in education and social care revealed insights about how key aspects of housing design impact on the health and wellbeing of residents and their families.
It also highlighted how housing issues affect service delivery. Providing care and support in open plan shared living environments, for instance, is challenging.
September 2025 OTnews 13