In this webinar we discussed the Good Home Inquiry’s findings and recommendations, the policy priorities of the public and the next steps needed to improve our homes and improve the lives of millions of people. Find out more: https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/events/good-home-inquiry-report-launch

1. Centre for Ageing Better
ageing-better.org.uk
The Good Home
Inquiry: How to get the
homes we want
In this webinar we discussed the Good Home
Inquiry’s findings and recommendations, the
policy priorities of the public and the next steps
needed to improve our homes and improve the
lives of millions of people.

2. Centre for Ageing Better
An evidence-based analysis of
housing policy to determine the poor
quality of many of England’s homes
and deliver recommendations that will
drive real and lasting change to
people’s homes and improve lives
What is the
Good Home Inquiry?

3. Centre for Ageing Better
- Around 10 million people in England
currently live in a home that presents a
serious threat to their health and safety
– defined by the government as ‘non-
decent’
- Of the 4.1 million non-decent homes,
almost half of these are lived in by
someone over 55
- £1.4 billion cost to NHS from poor
quality homes for first-year treatment
alone
Why do we need the Good Home Inquiry?

4. Centre for Ageing Better
Why do we need the Good
Home Inquiry now?
- Health inequalities
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed
and amplified housing-related health
inequalities
- Demographic change
One in four of us will be aged over 65 by
2041
- Climate crisis
Legal obligations from UK government to
reach net zero by 2050

5. Centre for Ageing Better
Structure of the Good Home Inquiry
Final report and
recommendations
Season one:
health
Season two:
energy
efficiency
Season
three:
finance
Season four:
digital
connectivity
Series of
underpinning
research
projects
Lived
experience
Stakeholder
engagement
Test and
learn
Implementation and
influencing work

6. Centre for Ageing Better
The King’s Fund:
Homes, Health
and COVID-19
Literature review
Ipsos Mori: Getting
our homes in order
Lived experiences
Natcen Panel: No
place like home
Ipsos Mori poll
UK Collaborative
Centre for Housing
Evidence (CaCHE)
Policy review
Britain Thinks
Commissioned in
partnership with
UKRI, Sciencewise
Public dialogues
and policy testing
Overview of underpinning research

7. Centre for Ageing Better
Key findings
- Improving our homes is a national policy issue, not just an individual
issue. There is a need for ownership of the problem and solution at all levels –
national oversight, local infrastructure and individual responsibility
- No previous government policy interventions have had the long-term
strategic approach and funding to make a difference. We need sustainable
investment and a long-term approach
- Investment and improvement of our homes must be holistic.
We must connect repair and improvement to the retrofit strategy
- To bridge current gaps, local hubs must effectively reach homeowners
and meet their needs
- Repairing and improving our housing stock will require a mixture of
innovative finance options

8. Centre for Ageing Better
Key recommendations
- National leadership through a cross-government housing strategy with a ministerial
champion to implement it
- Local delivery through a ‘Good Home Agency’ in every local area providing access to
information and advice, finance, home repairs, energy retrofit services
- A combination of government and private investment to develop products to encourage
and incentivise homeowners and landlords to improve their homes
- Inclusion of housing as a key part of preventative health strategies to improve
population health and address health inequalities

9. Twitter @cr_england careandrepair-england.org.uk
Good Homes for
Ageing Well
Sue Adams
CEO, Care & Repair England

10. careandrepair-england.org.uk info@careandrepair-england.org.uk
Twitter @cr_england
Care & Repair England; national housing charity aims to address poor and
unsuitable housing conditions amongst the older population, esp. low income
home owners (est. 1986)
Pioneers initiatives over 30+yrs; Local Care & Repair services, Minor Works
Grants, Handyperson, Housing Options Info & Advice, Healthy Homes, Older
People’s ‘Housing Activism’ etc.
Policy shaping: Older people’s housing – Chair of Housing & Ageing Alliance;
Home Adaptations Consortium; member of wide range of Govt/ NHS/NGO
Committees & Task Groups
About Care & Repair England

11. Good Homes?

12. 2019 – 24.4 million dwellings
• 15.6m owner occupied (64%)
• 4.7m private rented (19%)
• 4.1m social rented (17%)
• English
Housing
Survey –
53 years
of data
Existing Homes
Older households
• 9.5 million older* households
live in mainstream housing
(96%)
• c.400,000 specialist units
[sheltered/retirement/extra care]
*[HoHH 55yrs+]

13. Existing Homes: Good homes?

16. Housing, health,
ageing and
inequalities
The Connections

17. Homes, health and COVID-19
‘Poor quality housing has a profound impact on health’
• The condition of homes, insecure tenure and wider
neighbourhood characteristics all have considerable effects on
health and wellbeing
• The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and amplified housing-
related health inequalities
• [Those groups] more likely to live in poor housing are often the
same groups who are vulnerable to Covid-19 [older people, those
with LTCs etc]

18. Quantifying the health impacts of poor housing
Older population health impacts
NHS spends £513 million in first
year treatment costs for over 55s
living in the poorest housing
• £4.3 billion could repair all these
homes
• Pay back = eight years (less if
other ROI taken into account)
All ages health impacts
The poorest housing costs
the NHS £1.4 billion p.a. in
first year treatment costs
alone
• Costs to NHS is over
£2 billion p.a. if you include
all Cat 1 Hazard homes

19. Private & Confidential
The Good Home Dialogue
Commissioned by: Delivered by:
The homes we have
and the homes we
want?

20. Private & Confidential
The dialogue process
Good Home Dialogue
89 people living in poor quality
homes, diverse on age, ethnicity,
disability and tenure
14 housing professionals,
including practitioners, policy
makers, architects and academics
9 hours of workshops over Zoom
during May and June 2021

21. Private & Confidential
Even when we know there are issues with our homes, we value
them for what they mean to us. This can lead to inertia.
Good Home Dialogue

22. Private & Confidential
What are the barriers to making improvements?
Good Home Dialogue
Downplaying the severity of issues – living with work arounds or accepting things as they are.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lack of finances to tackle repairs and improvements. Home improvements can be expensive.
Finding a reputable tradesperson. Or dealing with landlords to do so.
Not feeling capable to tackling the job yourself.

23. Private & Confidential
Who is responsible?
Good Home Dialogue
The wider the benefits (such as decarbonisation or
health) the more people look to the Government
to take the lead
Homeowners acknowledge their responsibilities but
are looking for support.
Everybody has a role to play, from
residents/owners to private and social landlords,
local and national Government
People look to the Government to ensure that all
homes meet meet basic requirements for a good
standard of living.

24. Private & Confidential
The options discussed
Good Home Dialogue

25. Private & Confidential
The options discussed
Good Home Dialogue
“We need proper enforcement that are timebound with penalties, this will stop landlords
from not fulfilling their duty.”
Most enthusiasm for more regulation private landlords, with protection for tenants
from any repercussions like raised rents.

26. Private & Confidential
The options discussed
Good Home Dialogue
”In rural areas you could have a street with million-pound homes but you could also have a
home with a very vulnerable occupier in”
General support for investment but would area based funding allocation be fair
and what if you needed support but did not live in the selected areas?

27. Private & Confidential
The options discussed
Good Home Dialogue
“I am paying to maintain it and keep it up to a standard and I’m doing it on a low income.
I could get homeowner loans and the interest is astronomical but that’s another bill to
pay and it’s not always that easy and that simple. It’s just not always viable.”
Access to funding could help, but there is strong resistance to borrowing money.
Helping people to access the capital in their home safely and with fair lending
rates could help homeowners pay for improvements.

28. Private & Confidential
The options discussed
Good Home Dialogue
“We need to trust people to come and do a job at a reasonable price. We’re all afraid to
get someone in because we’re afraid of getting ripped off.”
Strong support for improving access to a wider pool of trusted tradespeople with
the right skills to carry out improvements.

29. Centre for Ageing Better
Taking forward the
Good Home Inquiry

30. Centre for Ageing Better
Taking forward the Good Home Inquiry
- Good Home Agency
Campaigning to government to establish a national network of Good Home Agencies and
testing a new approach with our partners in Lincolnshire County Council and others
- New models of finance
Establishing a Finance Working Group to test out models of helping homeowners and
landlords access the finance they need
- Consumer guidance
Providing guidance to those in greatest housing need on resources and support available
to improve homes and inform decisions on moving home

31. Centre for Ageing Better
Thank you
All resources from the Good Home Inquiry
available at:
www.ageing-better.org.uk/good-home-inquiry