The term ‘Special needs’ is a diverse term that is used by many groups like people that are disabled, autism , blind or deaf, those with Down syndrome or veterans with traumas etc. With the variety of differences, we cannot say one type of home fits for all, but each group has unique requirements that can fit their specific need and easen their life necessitating tailored approaches.
Buying a home can be complex with many steps involved like making the decision, doing the market research, visiting the sites, deciding to buy from a particular developer,documention etc and each stage comes with its own challenges which means even more challenging for people with special needs so this means Real Estate developers need to come out of their comfort zones and put in some extra flexibility for the people with special needs like:-
- Training their agents to understand their challenges and unique needs, be patient with them, give them more time and be helpful and collaborative to help them get a home that will be user friendly to them.
- Developers can aswell incorporate software and Leverage technology that will encourage and easen the buying process for them, like virtual reality to help them in site tours.
- Include design and accessibility features when building homes like lifts(MFV),ramps, spacious doorways where a wheelchair can pass,step free entrances,accessible bathrooms with (toilet, shower),open floor plans that easen movements(DP)
- Developers can aswell make it mandatory that Ground Floor units are sold to people with disabilities.
- We as developers also need to add amenities that enhance health care and safety of people with special needs like swimming pools, added security guards and gated communities just so the children don’t wander off.
We hope that we can collaborate with special needs specialists so that we can better tailor our projects to be user friendly to this special group of people.
By working together, we can create inclusive, user-friendly environments benefiting everyone.
Let’s work hand-in-hand to make homeownership more accessible.
