Government to probe if housing can cut NHS costs

The Budget document, published today, said the government is looking at the ‘cost-effectiveness of options to integrate spending around some of the most vulnerable groups of people’.

This includes ‘exploring whether improving housing can help people with care needs to stay in their homes longer and reduce costs to the NHS.’ The Treasury document does not reveal exactly what this would entail.

The announcement comes amid growing moves to integrate housing and health. Oliver Letwin, chair of the Conservative Policy review, held a meeting with several landlords last week to discuss how housing and health can work more effectively together.

The meeting focused on a number of areas including the appetite of National Health Service bodies being prepared to contract housing associations to deliver services, and associations playing more of a role in the strategic thinking of health and wellbeing boards.

In December housing and health bodies signed an agreement work more closely together.

The Memorandum of Understanding to support joint action on improving health through the home sets out a ‘shared commitment to joint action across government, health, social care and housing’ and will ‘promote the housing sector’s contribution to health’.

It is signed by 20 organisations including various NHS bodies, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Homes and Communities Agency, Homeless Link, The National Housing Federationand the Department for Communities and Local Government.