These benefits include savings to the NHS, lower energy bills and carbon emissions, higher asset values and improved economic opportunities as a result of better health.
BRE’s latest report updates its 2021 research and outlines a 30-year cost-benefit analysis of the impact of improving poor housing in England. The Cost of Ignoring Poor Housing quantifies the enormous cost burden of England’s poor housing to wider society.
For the 2.4mn homes in England identified as having one of the most serious health and safety hazards, remedial works would cost £9bn. If all this work could be undertaken immediately, there would be accrued benefits of £135.5bn over the next 30 years. This includes £13.0bn of savings to the NHS. Currently, the NHS is estimated to be spending over £1bn a year on treating people affected by poor quality housing. Based only on the NHS savings, let alone the wider benefits, the £9bn investment would pay for itself within 9 years.
It is unlikely to be practically possible to identify and undertake all the work required to make England’s housing stock healthy and safe immediately. To help target action, and as part of its latest report, BRE has designed a cost-benefit model that can be used to assess the costs and benefits of taking action on different hazards under different scenarios.
According to BRE’s research, improving the 65,000 homes with a Category 1 damp and mould hazard would only cost £250mn, unlocking £4.8bn in societal benefit over the next 30 years if this work was to be undertaken immediately.
