Innovation in Housing: Health and prevention in Cwm Taf Morgannwg

Housing is a key factor in people's health. Poorly maintained, overcrowded, cold, damp or insecure homes are key generators of poor physical and mental health, as well as driving wider differences in the population. Poor housing costs the NHS in Wales in the region of £100m per year with people with chronic conditions becoming sicker, visiting the GP or hospital more often and is linked with both increased healthcare need and reduced access to care.

Good quality housing is essential for health and well-being. Every £1 spent on home adaptations can generate £7.50 of health and social care cost savings, whilst reducing wider social and health differences that we often see.

This project will identify the homes that can most benefit through the linkage of housing and health data. We will use the details from Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) that are created every time a property is sold or rented. These contain useful information which tells us a lot about the energy efficiency of a house and also what can be done to improve this.

There is a scheme called ECO4 which is a UK-wide £1billion fund created from the profits of energy companies. ECO4 provides grants to fund energy efficient upgrades to homes reducing emissions, electricity and energy bills. Grants pay for new heating systems like boilers, loft or installation designed primarily to increase energy efficiency, reduce fuel poverty and energy costs and improvement health benefits. Part of this scheme called LA Flex allows local authorities to also propose properties to receive the grants for improvement where the people living there have a chronic health condition.

This project has three key objectives; Identify the target population and individuals who will benefit from ECO4; Develop the plan how to deliver the operation; and Exploring of how we will deliver this in statutory way with multiple stakeholders.

As a group we have already completed a successful project where we looked at the differences in Covid rates and hospital attendance for people living in Social Housing opened by Hafod Housing. We will work with Hafod again to deliver this project looking at how we can improve their housing stock but many of the approaches we aim to develop will be useful for many homes both in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and beyond.