Livable Housing Design Standard

The Modern Homes' Livable Housing Design Standards (LHDS) have applied to new homes in Queensland since 1 October 2023.

What this means

Under the LHDS, new houses and units must be designed and constructed so they are more accessible to

  • the elderly
  • people with disability
  • families with young children and those with temporary mobility injuries.

New homes must include:

  • a step-free access path to the entrance
  • at least 1 step-free entry
  • slightly wider internal doors and corridors
  • 1 step-free access into a bathroom and shower
  • an accessible toilet
  • reinforcing of bathroom and toilet walls to allow for future installation of handrails.

Implementation

The Queensland Development Code (QDC) 4.5 was introduced to support implementation of the LHDS by:

  • providing time-limited exemptions for certain narrow lots and small pre-built houses;
  • clarifying how the LHDS applies to repairs, maintenance and major renovations;
  • providing alternative, cost-effective compliance pathways for showers and grading to floor wastes; and
  • allowing an accessible toilet to be located on a level containing a habitable room where there is no habitable room on the entry level.

From 14 August 2026, QDC 4.5 also:

  • introduces a ramp-ready compliance option for elevated homes, allowing a compliant ramp to be installed when needed in the future;
  • provides practical solutions for coordinating step-free entry, surface water protection and termite management requirements;
  • provides an additional step-free access pathway using relevant provisions of AS 1428.1;
  • provides greater flexibility in accessible bathroom design; and
  • extends the narrow-lot exemption from the LHDS until 30 September 2029.

Together, these provisions support practical and cost-effective compliance without compromising safety, accessibility or quality.

Why these standards matter

A lack of accessible housing comes at a significant cost in the form of:

  • unnecessarily expensive home modifications to make homes more accessible
  • longer stays in hospital and transition care (if applicable) if discharge is delayed due to inadequate accessibility features in the home
  • not being able to age-in-place, needing to be relocated to more suitable accommodation
  • an inability for friends and family to visit each other due to inadequate accessibility features in the home.

The LHDS meet the changing needs of all of us as we age, without the need for costly adaptations.

Impact on new houses in Queensland

The impact of implementing the new LHDS was considered in the Proposal to include minimum accessibility standards for housing in the National Construction Code - decision regulatory impact statement (PDF, 3.6MB).

This document confirmed that retrofitting homes to comply with the new standard can be expensive and stressful. The estimated average cost is around $20,000 for houses and apartments. Some changes, like increasing the width of a corridor in an existing apartment, may not be possible to make.

In contrast, the average cost to ensure a new home complies with the same standards can be as little as 1 per cent of the average building cost.

Not only is it possible to build a compliant new home at a reasonable cost, but doing so increases the stock of houses that can improve a person’s economic and social participation in society by making their life easier.

People who are affected by the lack of suitable housing with accessible features will be able to leave hospital when they are ready, which reduces the need for care services. Additionally, they can live in their homes longer close to family and friends.

At the broader level, homes with LHDS features promote more inclusive communities.

Step-free entry requirements guidance

To assist with the design of step-free entry requirements we have prepared:

General enquiries

Visit the Australian Building Codes Board website.

Also consider: