Adapting your home to age well in place without a hospital feel

Staying at home for as long as possible is what the vast majority of older people want. But the house needs to keep up. An adaptation planned in good time, with an architect, makes all the difference between a safe and pleasant home and a series of makeshift fixes put in place after a fall.

What the latest King Baudouin Foundation barometer reveals

In Belgium, 66% of people over 60 are not actively preparing for the future. That is the conclusion of the King Baudouin Foundation's triennial Barometer, based on a survey conducted in autumn 2025 among 2000 non-dependent older people, which this time focused on housing.

The finding is clear. People over 60 are strongly attached to their homes and want to stay there for as long as possible, even when the house no longer meets their needs. 82% of older people never consider moving, or only as a last resort. Yet nearly 30% live in a home that has become too large, and many live in a house poorly suited to the years ahead. At the same time, one in two people in this age group say they fear losing their independence.

What we see in practice points in the same direction. Families often call us after a hospital stay, when everything has to be decided within a few weeks. With a year's head start, it is possible to design a proper project, one that is more attractive, better thought through and often less expensive.

Rethinking circulation first

An adapted home starts with simple movement. Before talking about equipment, we look at how the person lives day to day: from the front door to the kitchen, from the bedroom to the bathroom, from the living room to the garden.

Points to analyse:

• Access from the street: steps, door threshold, pathway lighting, distance from the car.
• Level differences on the ground floor: a step between the kitchen and the conservatory is a classic trap in farmhouses and older homes renovated in stages.
• The width of passageways: wider doors and clear corridors make it possible to move around with a stick, a walking frame or a wheelchair.
• Turning circles: allowing for a circle of around 1.5 m in key rooms makes a wheelchair usable without transforming the house.

In Wallonia, there is a useful reference framework. The Walloon Government decree of 15 May 2014 on accessible, adaptable and adapted housing (logement accessible, adaptable et adapté) sets out a whole series of technical guidelines. It is not compulsory for every private home, but it is an excellent toolbox for an architect.

Often the solution lies in the layout rather than in technical fixes. Removing a partition wall, moving a door, opening the kitchen onto the living room: the house becomes easier to move through for everyone, grandchildren included.

A safe bathroom that doesn't look like a hospital

The bathroom is the riskiest room in the house. It is also the room where a clinical, hospital feel creeps in most quickly. Chrome grab bars, clinical white tiling, a plastic seat: nobody wants to live with that.

Our design principles:

• A level access shower, with no threshold, a floor drain and a carefully designed slope. The bath disappears, and the space gained benefits everyone.
• A non-slip floor in a warm tone, with a clear contrast between floor and walls so the space is easy to read.
• Reinforcements built into the walls as part of the works. Grab bars can then be fitted exactly where needed, the day they become necessary.
• Accessories that serve a double purpose: a sturdy towel rail that doubles as a support, a shower shelf at the right height, a built-in bench finished in wood.
• A slightly raised toilet and a door that opens outwards or slides, so help can be given if needed.

Well designed, an accessible bathroom simply looks like a beautiful contemporary bathroom.

A ground floor bedroom without sacrificing the living room

Sooner or later the stairs become the main obstacle. A stairlift helps, but it doesn't solve everything. The most lasting solution is often to be able to live entirely on the ground floor.

Several options, depending on the house:

• Converting a little used room (study, formal dining room, attached garage) into a bedroom with an en suite shower room.
• Creating a small single storey extension, opening onto the garden. This is often a chance to bring new light into an older house.
• In a large house or a farmhouse, creating an independent unit on the ground floor, which could later house a carer or a family member.

The trap to avoid: an improvised bedroom in the living room, with a hospital bed squeezed among the furniture. The person loses their privacy and the house loses its soul. A bedroom designed as such, with a view, a low window and direct access to the shower room, preserves everyone's dignity.

In terms of procedures, interior alterations that do not change the structure or the number of dwellings often remain straightforward. An extension, a new volume or a change to the facade, however, generally require a planning permit under the CoDT (Walloon Code of Territorial Development). We check this from the very first visit.

Light, a quiet ally of independence

As we age, the eye needs much more light and copes less well with glare. Light then becomes as much a safety tool as a pleasure.

What we put in place:

• More natural light in the living spaces, by enlarging an opening or adding a roof window.
• Even artificial lighting, with no shadowy areas in circulation spaces or on the stairs.
• Soft night time guide lighting between the bedroom and the bathroom, triggered by a motion sensor.
• Clearly visible switches at a comfortable height, near every door and at the head of the bed.
• Colour contrasts to make steps, door frames and worktops easy to read.

A well lit home means fewer falls, but also more incentive to stay active at home.

Planning ahead to finance and decide with peace of mind

Support measures exist, but they change and need to be anticipated.

• In Wallonia, since 1 October 2026, the Habitation grants have been replaced by two subsidised loans, Rénopack and Rénoprêt, focused on energy renovation. According to SPW Énergie (the Walloon energy administration), the Rénoprêt may offer a zero interest rate in the specific case of works adapting a home for disability. The exact conditions should be checked with the Société wallonne du Crédit social.
• AVIQ (the Walloon agency for quality of life) can help through the individual integration allowance, but this generally requires you to be under 65 when the first application is submitted. The form must be lodged with the Agency before any equipment is purchased, the home is adapted or any work is carried out, otherwise the application will be refused.
• If you are over 65 and wish to adapt your home to preserve your independence, you can call on a free home adaptation advice service, according to the Walloon AVIQ wiki.
• The reduced VAT rate of 6% still applies to homes more than 10 years old.

Our advice: combine the adaptation with other planned work (insulation, window frames, heating). One single building site, one single period of disruption, and a home that is more comfortable, more energy efficient and ready for the years ahead. In Brussels the schemes are different: we will point you towards the right contacts.

Let's talk about your home

Do you live in a house that is becoming more difficult to manage, or are you helping a parent think this through? At STARC, we come to visit, listen to your habits and propose concrete, costed options tailored to your budget, in the provinces of Namur and Walloon Brabant as well as in Brussels. Contact our Gembloux office to talk it over, before an emergency decides for you.

Frédéric Odent