The BRE has published a new report that provides a 'cost benefit analysis' of carrying out a national programme of remediation of substandard housing in England that would pay for itself, over 9 years, in Health Service savings alone.

Last year, after the BRE had pointed to the £1.4 billion annual cost to the NHS of having to deal with the health impacts of poor housing, we wrote on how effectively delivered selective licensing schemes could help reduce that costs burden. Now, the BRE has pointed out that "For the 2.4 million homes in England identified as having one of the most serious [Category 1] health and safety hazards [using the housing health and safety rating system] remedial works would cost £9 billion. If all this work could be undertaken immediately, there would be accrued benefits [to wider society] of £135.5 billion over the next 30 years. This includes £13 billion in savings to the NHS .... Based only on the NHS savings, let alone the wider benefits, the £9 billion investment would pay for itself within 9 years."

Rationally, the BRE does go on to accept that "It is unlikely to be possible to identify and undertake all the work required to make England's housing stock healthy and safe immediately" but "To help target action .... 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."

As a quick win, the organisation says that "improving the 65,000 homes with a Category 1 damp and mould hazard would only cost £250 million, unlocking £4.8 billion in societal benefit over the next 30 years if this work was to be undertaken immediately."

The argument isn't just an esoteric one of interest only to professional Actuaries and, as Gillian Charlesworth the BRE's Chief Executive states "Up until now, no serious attempt has been made to examine and quantify the longer-term costs and benefits if the worst health and safety hazards were removed from England's substandard housing .... There is a powerful economic argument for England and the UK to deliver the improvements needed, through timely and targeted programmes of work to reap the financial payback."

She hopes the research can help to inform both national and local government about where the "most problematic homes are and provide a foundation for dedicating strategic resources to remediate poor housing." Certainly, given current legislative reform in both the private rented sector and the social rented sector, this research could be useful for local authorities considering whether to set up selective or additional licensing schemes in their areas or planning to dedicate resources to improvements needed in their own social housing stock.

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