Local Housing Strategy: guidance 2026

Housing health and social care integration

Housing and health outcomes are inextricably linked and housing can contribute to the achievement of many of the National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes.

The Housing to 2040 route map recognises that good affordable homes in positive neighbourhoods lead to reduced poverty and inequality, better health outcomes, improved educational attainment and more cohesive communities. It includes actions that will benefit people’s health and wellbeing, through improving access to affordable housing choices, tackling homelessness, driving up housing quality, supporting independent living and enabling the creation of quality greenspace.

Public Health Scotland’s briefing paper Healthy Housing for Scotland, supports implementation of Housing to 2040, which sets out the important link between housing and public health. The paper draws on evidence and sets out the mechanisms and pathways for how housing can influence health and wellbeing.

The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) have jointly published Public Health Priorities for Scotland. These priorities are relevant across all sectors, relate to aspects other than housing – such as early years, mental health and substance use. Local authorities are encouraged to consider the public health priorities when developing a LHS.

Given the impact that housing has on people’s health and wellbeing, the Scottish Public Health Network hosted by NHS Health Scotland has published a report Foundations for well-being: Reconnecting Public Health and Housing. The report recommends a number of key practice points for both public health and housing practitioners to take to reduce health inequalities. Local authorities are encouraged to consider the key practice points for both public health and housing practitioners around reducing health inequalities.

Local authorities may wish to consider the Mental Health Equality Evidence Report 2023 which highlights the considerable evidence indicating linkages between poor quality housing and mental ill health. The Mental Health Equality Evidence Report also highlights that poor housing can disproportionately impact negative mental health outcomes.

Certain functions undertaken by local authority housing services may have been delegated to Integration Authorities. Local authorities are encouraged to collaborate with the relevant Integration Authority when developing and setting out what the priorities and outcomes are for specialist provision housing.

A Housing Advice Note for Integration Authorities, Health Boards and Local Authorities focusses on housing services as an integral part of person-centred approaches and the wider delivery of health and social care integration. It applies especially to the preparation of Integration Authorities’ Strategic Commissioning Plans that must include a Housing Contribution Statement. The Advice Note covers key aspects of joint working arrangements that are required at local level between Integration Authorities and the housing sector and local authorities are encouraged to consider in developing a LHS.

A LHS should include information on how the local authority’s housing services have already been working and will continue to work with the Integration Authority to deliver the outcomes in its Strategic Commissioning Plan that will have been informed by a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

Each Integration Authority should have in place a Housing Contribution Statement as this is an integral part of the Strategic Commissioning Plan and sets out how the integrated authority intends to work with housing services, whether delegated or not, to deliver its outcomes.

The Housing Contribution Statement should be developed by the Integration Authority in collaboration with the local authority’s housing and social work departments. It sets out the role and contribution of the local housing sector in meeting the outcomes and priorities identified within the Strategic Commissioning Plan. Glasgow City Council’s Housing Contribution Statement 2023 to 2026 is an example.

Guidance for drafting a Housing Contribution Statement is available in the Housing Advice Note. The Housing Contribution Statement should be seen as a bridge between a LHS and the Strategic Commissioning Plan.

Local authorities should give consideration to the Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge which highlights the importance of joint working and alignment between LHSs, Strategic Housing Investment Plans and Housing Contribution Statements in identifying the full range of needs, establishing relative priorities and identifying the necessary resources to support delivery.

Summary of areas expected to be included in LHS

a. a summary setting out which services have been delegated to the Integration Authority to deliver and which are the responsibility of the local authority.

b. a summary explaining how the local authority’s housing services are collaborating with the Integration Authority to deliver priorities and outcomes in its Strategic Commissioning Plan together with a summary of the shared outcomes and priorities from the Housing Contribution Statement.