Creating Healthy Places in the North East: The Role of Housing

Patrick Vernon OBEHealth Partnership Coordinator

Impact of Housing Associations

Housing associations manage two and a half million homes for more than five million people in England. Between 2011 and 2015, we built over 170,000 new affordable homes, generating almost £18.4 billion in the economy and supporting over 390,000 jobs.

• In 2014/15, housing associations are estimated to have built around 46,000 affordable homes in England – this equates to around 37% of all homes that year;

• Housing associations also build homes for market rent and market sale – a modest estimate indicates this will exceeded 3,500 in 2014/15 – meaning total housing association delivery is estimated to have been around 50,000 new homes in 2014/15;

• Over the course of the last parliament, almost one in three of all new homes built were affordable homes delivered by housing associations.

North East

104 Housing Associations (80 Federation members)132,883 General Needs19,796 Older People5,989 Supported3,075 LCHO

Due North: Report of the Inquiry on Health Equity for the North

The report identifies four areas of concern based the evidence submitted and inquiry lines of inquiry:• Tackle poverty and economic

inequality• Promote healthy development in

childhood• Share power of resources and

increase the influence of the public• Strengthen the role of the public

sector

Prevention is better than treatment: Public service reform and economic

Development

Involve a long-term plan to transform how the £136 billion of public moneythat is spent in the North each year is used topromote the well-being and capabilities of peoplein the North.

But over the long term, investingpublic resources in the development of people(e.g. in their education, skills and health) andplaces (e.g. in good housing and infrastructure)will be a more effective and efficient use ofresources, promoting prosperity and reducinginequalities in the future are therefore interlinked.

Better public services that focus on developing peopleand places and preventing poverty result in a healthier, more skilled population which in turn helps to make the region prosperous, increasing the public resources available through taxation that can be invested in public services.

Recommendations

1: Tackle poverty and economic inequality within the North and between the North and the rest of England2: Promote healthy development in early childhood3: Share power over resources and increase the influence that the public has on how resources are used to improve the determinants of health4: Strengthen the role of the health sector in promoting health equity

Challenges Housing Sector

• 1% Rent reduction over the next four years

• Welfare Reform • Exemption for Supported

Housing??• Extension of The Right To

Buy• Start Homes and Section

106• National Living Wage

• Further cuts and reductions in social care budgets

• Mergers• Role of housing

association in community social investment and regeneration schemes

• Valued partner in devolution agenda

Inside Housing Survey135 CEOs response to Rent reduction

estimated £1.6 billion by 2021

• 72.1% Cutting back on non-core activity

• 58.9% Redundancies, with 51.9% freezing recruitment

• 53.5% Sharing costs • 34.9% Building more

homes for market rent• 34.1% Looking for merger

System Leadership

• Care Act• NHS England Five Year

Forward View• CSR• NHS England and PHE

Health Town Programme • MOU between health and

housing sector• Devolution Agenda• One Public Estate

Challenges

• Single Voice and Point of access

• Evidence Base • Making the Business

Case• Language and

communication with the NHS

• Getting the right people in the room

• Housing can contribute to all dimensions of devolution agenda and not ‘a one trick pony’

• Retreat to our caves and silos due to cuts and efficiency savings

Federation as a Strategic PartnerPHE/NHS England & DH

Role in developing better dialogue between health and housing sector

• Sharing good practice• Briefings • Policy development• Influencing/Advocacy• Networking opportunities• Events and seminars

Housing Offer

• System Leadership and Transformational Change

• Health & Care Priorities and Planning

• Information Sharing/Research

• Models of Care• Workforce Development • Integration• NHS Land & Estates

Case Studies

• Thirteen Group Middlesbrough- Recovering Together project

• Gentoo - Boilers on Prescription

• Home Group - Social Prescribing

• Tyne- Working with Homeless• Northstar -Mental Health

patrick.vernon@housing.org.uk 020 7067 1040http://www.housing.org.uk/topics/health-care-and-housing/