Counting the Cost: The case for making older people’s homes safe

Analysis by the Building Research Establishment for the Centre for Ageing Better reveals how poor quality housing is incurring huge costs and pressures on the NHS and social care.

It found that removing the most serious risks to people’s health and safety from the country’s poorest quality homes where the head of household is 55 or over would result in savings to the NHS of nearly £600 million per year.

The research also revealed that people living in poor housing are likely to develop care needs eight years earlier than people living in a home without any housing problems. Fixing these issues would deliver more than £1.5 billion in annual health and social care savings (opens new window).

The report outlines the evidence on older people’s housing conditions, the impact it is having on their health and quantifies the avoidable financial cost to the NHS and social care sectors. It is intended to highlight the experiences of older people who are often missing in national conversations about our housing crisis, millions of whom are living in poor-quality housing, struggling financially and without a clear route to safety.  

To accompany the publication of this report, the Centre for Ageing Better have launched the Safe Homes Now (opens new window) campaign