Health and housing: not just the name of our recent conference, but, as the delegates in Leeds Town Hall were reminded, two inextricably linked spheres.
Our speakers, not to mention the lively workshops and discussions that took place in-between, covered a range of subjects. But above all this conference reminded us that what we do does make a difference to much more than the environment – we’re improving the lives of people and their communities, as well as helping the budgets of cash-strapped councils and public bodies.
Well-insulated, warm homes can mean healthier bank balances for their inhabitants, but – as two speakers in particular reminded us - that’s just the start.
Steve Hale, director of property services at Nottingham City Homes - SHIFT accredited landlord - summarised research, conducted by his organisation along with Nottingham Trent University, into the wider outcomes of its decent homes programme (or, under its NCH title, ‘Secure, Warm Modern’).
One surprising example of the difference retrofitting can make: the investment of £200 million between 2010 and 2024 in modernising and insulating properties on NCH’s estates has cut crime - and not just in NCH properties. Burglaries have fallen by 42 per cent on its estates, twice the average city-wide reduction, because ‘the burglars are getting naffed off with not being able to break into houses [thanks to more secure replacement windows] and they’ve moved on,’ as Steve put it.
The investment in housing has paid off for the local economy, too. According to the research, each £1 spent on NCH’s programme has generated £1.46 for the county’s economy.
But it’s the benefits to residents’ physical and mental health that really stand out. NCH estimates its retrofitting works could improve the respiratory health of 1,000 children; improve the mental health of 1,000 tenants, given the link between excess cold and poor levels of mental wellbeing; and could prevent 144 accidents that would require medical attention.
Dr Ian Wilkinson, who followed Steve Hale to the conference podium, had a similar story to tell. Dr Wilkinson is chief clinical officer on Oldham’s clinical commissioning group, and he gave us a run-down of results from a recent ground-breaking project. Warm Homes Oldham, a partnership between the CCG, the local council and a consortium of local housing associations, invested £200,000 over the past year in retrofitting the homes of 1,000 fuel-poor Oldham residents.
In purely financial terms, the results are extremely encouraging: the benefits accrued as a result of the work – including fewer visits to A&E and GPs’ surgeries, for example – are worth around £300,000. As Dr Wilkinson pointed out, if every one of Oldham’s 20,000 residents living in fuel poverty was helped out of it, it could save the NHS around £6.1 million a year.
And Dr Wilkinson had a rallying cry for the housing sector, too. ‘We’ve known for some time that a lot of what we do as health professionals doesn’t have a huge impact on outcomes for patients,’ he told us. ‘What does have a huge impact is the homes people live in and the families that surround them… If you haven’t yet spoken to your CCG, do. They are ready. Get in there and get in there now.’
The day was rounded-off with a glimpse, courtesy of BRE’s Gwyn Roberts, of a new domestic standard for sustainable homes, to be launched at Ecobuild this week. Baker Homes has been working on the new standards with BRE. They aim to put householders at the heart of the ratings process through the introduction of three new indicators, which will sit alongside the existing 5-level rating system.
There was plenty for delegates on what we at Baker Homes have been up to, as well. Our senior sustainability consultant Richard Lupo gave a rundown on upcoming upgrades to our SHIFT sustainability benchmarking system, while our head of external affairs, John Stapleton, gave details of a trip to Amsterdam later in the year for SHIFT members to take a look at a new retrofitting model – Energiesprong – that can cover a whole street’s worth of property in just 10 days.
As always, it was a useful, enlightening and inspiring day for SHIFT members and others.
Find out more about our other speakers and see what attendees thought of the day's events.
Andrew Eagles is managing director of Baker Homes.
