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

10 March 2025

Last week, we were excited to welcome over 200 delegates at the Marriott Hotel in Leeds for our Annual Conference, 'A Festival of Ideas'! It was great to reconnect in person for the first time since the pandemic, and we couldn’t have asked for a better group to share the experience.

Inspired by the Older People's Housing Taskforce report, we focused on the latest insights into planning, designing, and managing Age-Friendly Homes and Connected Communities. Our insightful speakers explored innovative housing choices, age-friendly design, and technology to help shape a better future for housing.

A big thank you to our sponsors: AtkinsRéalis, Tunstall Healthcare (UK), Invisible Creations, PROCare Limited, Shakespeare Martineau Solicitors (including Marrons), and P+HS Architects for making this event possible.

Presentation slides, session summaries, and photos will be available on the Housing LIN website soon. In the meantime, we look forward to continuing the conversation at #HLINconf25 Round 2 at The Building Centre in London on 26th March!

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

Housing LIN and Sector News Highlights

New APPG Inquiry Launched on Creating Intergenerational Communities

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People has launched a new inquiry on how the built environment can create intergenerational communities in both mainstream and specialist housing.

Co-chaired by Lord Richard Best and Anna Dixon MP, the inquiry will run for one year and aims to explore how to improve the intergenerational experience of older people, based on where they live and their surroundings.

Riverside Group and Places for People are supporting the inquiry, and the Housing LIN is proud to have been appointed as the Secretariat.

Two almshouses shortlisted for RIBA's regional design awards

We are delighted to see that Appleby Blue, an overall 2024 National Housing Design and HAPPI winner, has been shortlisted by RIBA London and, in RIBA's East region, The Dovehouse Court Almshouses have also been shortlisted for an award.

Housing Design Awards 2025 – Last Chance to Submit!

As a longstanding advocate of the Housing Design Awards, particularly the HAPPI category, we are pleased to remind you that entries are now open for the 2025 Housing Design Awards.

The submission deadline for completed developments or projects is Wednesday, 12 March 2025.

Expert Insights

Empathy in Action: Insights from the Housing LIN’s Future Leaders Programme

This new Housing LIN guest blog by Amelia Counsell, Property Performance Manager at Housing 21, explores the invaluable experience of participating in the Housing LIN’s Future Leaders Programme, ahead of this year's Housing LIN Conference in London.

What else caught our interest...

Design Dignity Dementia Organisation: Dignity Environmental Assessment Tool
Future of London: Delivering housing, climate change and health equity
Health Service Journal: Affordable housing is the answer to the NHS’s workforce crisis (subscribers only)
Independent Commission on Neighourhoods: Interim Report - Think Neighbourhoods
Inside Housing: Creating Intergenerational Communities: the launch of our APPG inquiry
King’s Fund: Social Care 360
LGA/TLAP: Must know: Personalisation and Making It Real in adult social care
MHCLG: Commonhold White Paper: The proposed new commonhold model for homeownership in England and Wales
National Housing Federation: The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act
Oxford Brookes University: Oxford Brookes to lead £7.4 million research initiative on health impacts of UK net zero targets
RIBA: Foundations for the Future: a new delivery model for social housing

See What We’re Working on Behind the Scenes!

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.

Curious about the various projects the Housing LIN is engaged in? These include groundbreaking research collaborations with universities and the creation of new tools and resources to shape policy and practice. Find out more here!

Events supported by the Housing LIN

International Technology Enabled Care Conference (ITEC), 17 – 18 March 2025, ICC in Birmingham

TSA’s ITEC Conference is the largest dedicated Technology Enabled Care Conference in the UK. The Housing LIN is delighted to have secured 25 free two-day passes to the conference, on a first come first served basis. During registration, when asked if you have been issued a booking code, please select ‘YES’ and input the following code: ITEC2025/HLIN25. Please note the gala dinner ticket option isn’t part of this offer and is chargeable.

Property Week’s Later Living Conference - London, 2 April 2025

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.