Anyone need an unused Wheelchair ramp?

New Houses are all designed to be ‘Disabled’ friendly – A worthwhile cause I hear you cry – but hold on a minute – I’m not so sure…

I’ve just completed the building of our new house – well I’ve supervised the operation or as some would say ‘project managed’ the build.

This has gone well but has led me to write yet another rant about one of our governments daft rules.

As most of you will know, a new house is subject to the scrutiny of ‘building control’ from the start to finish of the build. A ‘building inspector’ from your local council will turn up as and when required to ensure the building complies with the current building regs as dictated by our sorry excuse for a government.

Now I can see the point in this and there are plenty of good, common sense rules to protect occupants of any building from unsafe building works, fire hazards and so on.
Amongst all this is the most ridiculous list of rules to ensure my new house is suitable for the disabled.

I now have a long, flat wheelchair access ramp, light switches at the new lower height and sockets at the new higher level to avoid me needing to stretch from my chair and, a loo door that has to open outwards.

Now this wouldn’t seem so daft if any of us living here actually had a wheelchair.
Now I know the daft MPs who came up with this nanny state set of regulations would argue that one day I might need a wheel chair or indeed someone already using one may move to this house at a later date, but the truth as to what really happens is very different.
All over the country people like me spend hundreds of pounds to get my ramp and backwards doors fitted in order that I can get my building ‘signed off’ by my designated inspector. One week later, I, like countless others, call the builders back, at more expense, to rip out the aforementioned concrete and reverse my back to front loo doors. All in all a total waste of about £1500.

I asked my builders who laughed and said they did quite well from constantly installing and then uninstalling these unused features.

Now anyone with an ounce of common sense could have come up with a better plan.
How about this:

Anyone building a new house could pay £500 into a central ‘disabled home’ fund. This could be called upon by all the unfortunate disabled people who aren’t buying my new house and could actually do with these ramps, hand rails and door changes in their own homes. As 99% of homes in the UK don’t have these facilities and most people aren’t disabled this would allow the people that do need them to actually benefit from them.

As it stands there’s tens of thousands of pounds being wasted on new builds and disabled people who could do with a hand left to struggle..

I’m just waiting for the next round of pointless rules to be published – maybe I’ll have to line the walls and ceiling of my lounge in blocks of ice incase a passing Eskimo decides to visit..