BRE report finds poor housing is costing NHS £1.4bn a year - BRE Group
BRE report finds poor housing is costing NHS £1.4bn a year
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BRE report - ‘The Cost of Poor Housing in England’ - quantifies the cost burden to the NHS caused by hazards arising from poor quality homes in England
Findings reveal that 2.6 million homes in England - 11% of the country’s housing stock - are categorised as ‘poor quality’ and therefore hazardous to occupants
Most common hazards are those that cause injuries on stairs, while the costliest issue for the NHS (£857million p/a) is poor quality housing leading to excess cold
Thursday 11th November 2021 – Poor housing1 in England could be costing the National Health Service (NHS) £1.4billion a year in treatment bills, finds a new report published by Building Research Establishment (BRE) – ‘The Cost of Poor Housing in England’. According to BRE’s analysis, more than half (£857 million) of this annual NHS treatment bill can be attributed to defects in poor homes which expose residents to excess cold, while the second biggest cost to the NHS comes from hazards which cause people to fall and injure themselves, predominantly on staircases. Both issues are particularly dangerous for the most vulnerable in society, such as older people and families with young children. BRE was able to quantify the cost of poor housing to the NHS by combining existing data from the 2018 English Housing Survey (EHS) on health and safety hazards in the home, with NHS treatment cost figures. According to the latest EHS, an estimated 2.6million homes in England - 11% of the country’s housing stock - contained at least one ‘Category one hazard’ and were therefore considered ‘poor’. Today’s report follows a similar study by BRE published in 20162. The most common Category 1 hazard is the risk to a fall on stairs, such as disrepair to, or a lack of a handrail or balustrade, with over 1 million such cases recorded in 2018. Fixing this issue alone would save the NHS £219million a year in treatment costs. Dampness is also a common and costly issue for the NHS, with 75,000 homes in England suffering from the most serious dampness in 2018, leading to a £38million annual bill for the NHS. In addition, there are many more homes with non-category one dampness (less serious) which have an impact on people’s health. Table showing top five ‘category one hazards’ found in homes in England‘Category 1’ Hazard | Number recorded | Annual cost to NHS | Total cost to mitigate hazard | Payback (years) | Annual savings to society if hazard mitigated |
Excess cold | 836,000 | £857million | £6billion | 7 | £15.3billion |
Falls on stairs | 1.048million | £219million | £1.3billion | 6 | £1.7billion |
Falls on the level | 410,000 | £104million | £350million | 3 | £258million |
Falls between stairs | 181,000 | £51millon | £229million | 4 | £280million |
Dampness | 75,000 | £38million | £269million | 7 | £96million |