HLINks Weekly: Housing, Health, and Social Care Latest News

News Highlights

Housing LIN and Essex County Council win Essex Housing Award for Specialist Housing

We’re delighted to announce that, in partnership with Essex County Council, we’ve won the 2025 Essex Housing Award for Specialist Housing.

Our Supported and Specialist Housing Need Assessment provides vital insights, guiding future practice and shaping inclusive, high-quality housing across Essex.

• Read here

United St Saviour’s Charity’s almshouse Appleby Blue wins Stirling Prize

The 2025 Stirling Prize, RIBA’s prestigious award for excellence in architecture, has been won by Witherford Watson Mann Architects at a ceremony last week for their new, HAPPI-inspired, contemporary almshouse design for United St Saviour’s Charity’s, Appleby Blue, in Bermondsey. 

This is a sensational achievement and a great boost for retirement living.

• Read the full story

Housing LIN South West Leadership Set focuses on healthy neighbourhoods and age-friendly communities

Exploring healthier, age-friendly communities – the South West Leadership Set came together last week to tackle the future of neighbourhood health!

A big thank you to Michael Chang (NHS Property Services), who shared how planning and regeneration policies can reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes, and to Sarah Parsons (Dorset Council), who outlined their age-friendly journey and Dorset’s role as a Neighbourhood Health Implementation Area as the UK's 100th age-freindly communitity. 

• Read update

HAPPI Hour Webinar - Towards age-friendly futures: Local practice and perspectives

As part of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce’s recommendation to support the development of age-friendly communities, join this HAPPI Hour webinar to explore what creating age-friendly futures really means, from policy and research to practical, real-life impact.

📅 Tuesday, 21st October 2025
🕓 From 4pm - 5pm
🌐 Online - Zoom

• Register here

Resource Roundup

HAPPI Hour webinar recording – Suitable Housing for an Ageing Population Evidence Exchange – The SHAPE of things to come

A huge thank you to everyone who joined last week's webinar for the soft launch of the SHAPE (Suitable Housing for an Ageing Population Evidence) Exchange, our five-year programme in partnership with the Vivensa Foundation.

SHAPE builds on the HAPPI and TAPPI initiatives to promote inclusive, care-ready housing design, age-friendly communities, and better use of technology and adaptation to support independent living.
 

• Watch webinar

Late movers: How the shortage of suitable housing affects our ageing population

This new report by Age UK draws on research it commissioned and highlights concerns about the affordability, accessibility and quality of housing available for people as they age.

Calling for urgent action, it recommends improvements to planning, design, and adaptations of new and existing homes, as well as a national housing strategy focused on the 50–75 age group who are most likely to move.

• Read report

Unequal access, unsafe homes: The home improvement gap for racially minoritised communities

A new report from the Centre for Ageing Better, delivered by the Race Equality Foundation, highlights the urgent need to address poor-quality housing faced by older people from racially minoritised communities.

The report urges policymakers, local authorities and service providers to act now to prevent worsening inequalities and support better later-life living conditions across England.

• Read report

Expert Insights

From Strategy to System Shift: How Bolton is Reframing What it Means to Be Age-Friendly

In this Housing LIN guest blog, Julie Riley and Lauren McKechnie share how Bolton’s Age Well Partnership is redefining ageing.

The Age Friendly Strategy 2025–28 champions co-production, lived experience, collaboration, and action, driving meaningful, accountable change for older generations.

Want to learn more? The Housing LIN is pleased to host a HAPPI Hour webinar on Tuesday, 21 October 2025 (4pm–5pm), titled ‘Towards age-friendly futures: Local practice and perspectives,’ featuring Lauren as a guest speaker.

• Read blog

Unlocking Freedom: Why Adapted Housing Is a Right, Not a Privilege

We are pleased to share our latest contribution to our Disability Discrimination Act series, ahead of its 30th anniversary, by Sir David Pearson, Independent Chair and Advisor.

This blog explores the vital role of appropriate housing in ensuring equality, independence, and inclusion for people with learning disabilities and/or autism.

• Read blog

What else caught our interest...

• Almshouse Association case study: Case Study: Refurbishment of Sheppard’s Almshouses
• Homeless Link case studies: Delivering integrated health and social care services for people experiencing homelessness
• Institute for Health Equity reports: Scotland - Collaboration for Health Equity
• Intergenerational England blog: Designing for Multi-Generational Living
• Lench’s Trust research: Birmingham’s untold stories of old age and the welfare state captured in new published research
• Listen to Locals resources: Place-based health indexes: an essential resource in building for health
• MHCLG homelessness funding: £84 million injection to tackle homelessness
• Paul Smith’s (Foundations) blog: Older People Aren’t Waiting for Retirement Apartments. They Are Waiting For Their Own Homes To Work Better
• TCPA update: Healthy Homes, now!
• The Housing Forum report: New lessons for new towns - What can we learn from the large-scale settlements under development to shape the next generation of new towns?

Dates For Your Diary

Autumn/Winter HAPPI Hour webinars

We’re now three sessions into our exciting HAPPI Hour webinar series, and there’s so much more to come! Join expert-led discussions on key topics in housing and ageing. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it!

Browse the full programme and register your free place today:

• Towards Age-Friendly Futures: Local practice and perspectives on 21st October 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• Driving Housing Delivery through Market Engagement on 28th October 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• 30 Years On: Reflecting on the Disability Discrimination Act and the road ahead on 11th November 2025, 3.30pm - 5pm
• Homes Built Together: Exploring Community-Led Housing & Cohousing on 18th November 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• Housing LIN Scotland Presents on 25th November 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• What the Housing Strategy means for supported and specialist housing on 2nd December 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• Becoming a Dementia-Friendly Organisation – Back to Basics on 9th December 2025, 4pm - 5pm
• Designing for Tomorrow: Future-Proof, Age-Friendly Homes on 16th December 2025, 4pm - 5pm

Events supported by the Housing LIN

• Your Workplace is Multigenerational: How Regional Insights Reveal the Challenges and Opportunities of Working Across Generations on 22/10/2025 6:00pm till 7:30pm

Want to know what we're working on?

From cutting-edge research with universities to creating tools that shape policy and practice, we’re driving innovation in the sector. Find out more!

We also offer tailored support to help you navigate today’s complex challenges, whether strategic or operational.

Let’s work together! Email us at consultancy@housinglin.org.uk or explore our Research and Advisory Services to learn more.