BRE FB82 PDF

Introduction

In 2014 a Bletchley Day workshop organised by Care & Repair England, was tasked with considering ways to demonstrate the investment value of home adaptations and modifications through the production of better evidence. One outcome of this workshop was a request for BRE Trust to provide research that contributed to this evidence base.

Building on the methodology of previous BRE Trust research into the costs of poor housing, the key objectives of this research were to:

• provide a general overview of the support available for disabled and older people

• review existing research that has attempted to measure the cost-benefit of home interventions

• estimate the nature and quantity of hazards that exist in the homes of households who are most at risk of harm from these hazards

• estimate the reduction in cost to the NHS which would arise from undertaking remedial work/home modifications to mitigate the risks of these hazards

• estimate to what extent the costs of mitigation work can be offset by savings to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) adaptations budget

• consider some additional costs to society of not undertaking remedial work/home modifications in the homes of those who have the potential to benefit from this action

• provide further empirical evidence of the benefits of home interventions through case studies.

Like its predecessors, this research aims to demonstrate that enabling people to live safely in their home makes economic sense, by reducing NHS expenditure, as well as improving the quality of lives of the people who benefit from them. In making the case for government investment in home interventions to keep people in their own homes, it is hoped that the research will also help local authorities and charities with limited resources to target funding where it offers the best value.

It is hoped that the research will be of particular interest to all government departments responsible for health and housing, Public Health England, the NHS, local authorities, social housing providers, Age UK, Home Improvement Agencies, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and students of public health and housing.

Further information on the research methodology underpinning this research will be available in a forthcoming BRE Trust publication, The full cost of poor housing (FB 81).