HLINks Weekly: Housing, Health, and Social Care Latest News

10 January 2025

As we count down to this year's annual conference (6th March in Leeds and 26th March in London), we’re thrilled by the response so far! Stay tuned for more updates this week.

In today’s newsletter, we’re pleased to highlight the opening of this year’s Housing Design Awards submissions, with a special focus on the HAPPI category. Last year, housing for older people took center stage, with United St Saviour’s Charity's Appleby Blue in Bermondsey being named the winner of winners.

We also cover last week’s Housing LIN guest blog by Caroline Cooke, director at social enterprise Share and Care Homeshare, who covers the latest homeshare report.

Plus, a new report by Inclusion London highlights the challenges of inaccessible and unaffordable housing for deaf and disabled people in the capitol.

And, don't miss the Housing Ombudsman Service’s report on adaptations and landlords' responses to health needs - and lots more that has caught our interest!

Thank you for being such a valued member of our community. We hope this week’s HLINks newsletter provides you with useful insights and inspiration. Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the coming weeks!

Best wishes,

The Housing LIN Team

News Highlights

This year’s Housing Design Awards are open

Following United St Saviour's Charity standout contemporary almshouses, Applyby Blue, in Bermondsey, being crowned the HAPPI winner and winner of winners at last year’s Housing Design Awards, entries are now open for the 2025 Awards. Don’t miss out this year!

Apply by Wednesday, 12 March 2025.

Share your good ideas on how to support more people to live healthy, independent lives

As part of their 100th anniversary, St Monica Trust's '100 Good Ideas' project is seeking submissions for your suggestions of how to support more people – in their communities and beyond – to live healthy, happy, independent lives as they grow older.

Resource Roundup

Report uncovers the impact of inaccessible and unaffordable housing on deaf and disabled Londoners

A new report by Inclusion London uncovers the reality of inaccessible and unaffordable housing for deaf and disabled people in London.

It follows an inquiry capturing the housing experiences of deaf and disabled Londoners and the supply of accessible and affordable housing.

Learning from Severe Maladministration: Lessons from the Housing Ombudsman Service

Learning from Severe Maladministration COVER

This report by the Housing Ombudsman focuses on adaptations and landlords’ responses to mental and physical health needs.

It is based on 35 investigations where residents have asked for an adaptation to the home or service adjustment. Adaptations include those for kitchens or bathrooms or service changes because of vulnerabilities.

The Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing (ISPA) Project - Blogs

The ISPA project is an ambitious 5-year participatory mixed method study that aims to explore and understand how the stigma attached to where people live can intersect with experiences of disability and ageing.

In this reflective piece, Chris Baird, disability activist and campaigner, and one of the key ISPA summit speakers shares his experiences of disability and his hopes for the future.

This blog post by Ro Pengelly, Community Peer-Researcher, explores the importance of engagement and partnership working, the insecurity felt by communities and the growing scepticism about local planning processes.

The INGENIOUS project: towards understanding air pollution in homes

This paper provides an overview of the INGENIOUS (UnderstandING the sourcEs, traNsformations and fates of IndOor air pollUtantS) project, aiming to better understand the sources, transformation processes and fates of indoor air pollutants, or our exposure to them.

Innovating for independence: a win-win for health and social care

This policy briefing by the think tank Reform calls for quick action to scale up technology within social care.

It points out that too much of the technology in social care is not being scaled and is stuck in small scale pilots that are not having the system-wide impact they could achieve.

Expert Insights

What’s driving the interest in homeshare arrangements?

This new Housing LIN guest blog by Caroline Cooke, director at social enterprise Share and Care Homeshare, covers the latest homeshare report, which explores the growing sector and its benefits for both older and younger individuals.

What else caught our interest...

Channel 4 News: Supported housing crisis: ‘I was in a state of absolute depravity’
Department of Health and Social Care: Social care - charging for care and support 2025 to 2026: local authority circular
IMPACT: IMPACT to run 22 projects across the UK in 2025-26
Local Government Association: Building fairetowns cities and regions insights marmot places - case-studies
Local Government Association: Practical approaches to boosting the supply of affordable housing
My Home Life England: Sustained connections: The lasting impact of Intergenerational Linking between schools and care homes
Nationwide Foundation: The Private Rented Sector: What don’t we know?
Welsh Senedd: Wales’s housing crisis: the role of social housing supply

Dates For Your Diary

HAPPI Hour Webinars

We're busy planning our Spring/Summer series of HAPPI Hour webinars. In the meantime, you can watch all previous HAPPI Hour webinar recordings here.

Housing LIN Research and Advisory Services

Building on our highly-prized learning and improvement ethos, the Housing LIN can help you and your organisation underpin your progress in a changing and challenging work environment.

Let's Work Together! To find out how we can support your operational and/or strategic plans, contact us at consultancy@housinglin.org.uk or visit our Research and Advisory Services.