Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people to be compulsory in new public buildings

More than 250,000 severely disabled people will have greater access to public places after the government moved to make Changing Places toilets compulsory in new buildings. Changing Places toilets are larger accessible toilets for severely disabled people, with equipment such as hoists, curtains, adult-sized changing benches and space for carers.

A major change to building rules in England will require thousands of large (12m²) and well-equipped accessible toilet facilities to be designed and built into new public buildings, from next year.

The government estimates it will add the toilets to more than 150 new buildings a year. A £30 million fund to install Changing Places in existing buildings will open in the next few months.

Shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, stadia and arts venues are just some of the buildings that will be required to include at least one Changing Places toilet.

Building Accessibility Minister Lord Greenhalgh said:

For too long, the lack of Changing Places toilets has meant that severely disabled people have faced severe difficulties in attending public places.

Changing Places toilets give disabled people and their carers the space and equipment they need to have the confidence to leave their homes and go out.

We are making the installation of these toilets compulsory in hundreds of new public buildings in years to come to help bring major, life enhancing freedoms to the more than 250,000 people who need them.

Rob Burley, Director of Campaigns, Care and Support at Muscular Dystrophy UK, said:

This is huge news for the quarter of a million people in the UK who need Changing Places toilets. Having access to these much-needed facilities increases independence and improves quality of life. This legislation will make it easier for disabled people and their families to enjoy activities that many take for granted, whether that’s a day’s shopping or attending a concert.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our wonderful campaigners. Thanks to everyone working together, we have taken a big step towards ensuring Changing Places toilets will be more widely available to everyone who needs them and tackling the exclusion people face.

There are more than 1,400 Changing Places toilets in the UK, up from just 140 in 2007, but more are needed to support more than a quarter of a million people who need them in the UK.