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This article reports on a recent study carried out by Sitra on behalf of the Yorkshire & Humber Housing Related Support Group, which resulted in the publication of Prevention and Personalisation ‐ the case for Housing Related Support (Sitra, 2010). The study demonstrated that a wide range of relatively inexpensive housing‐related support services across the region were cost‐effective and worked in accordance with choice and control, showing that the principles of prevention and personalisation can complement one another.

This article is based on a briefing paper originally issued by the National Housing Federation and Sitra as an update to their members on Supporting People and the future of housing‐related support. The article considers the current issues in providing housing‐related support and offers a range of measures to help connect housing, health and social care more effectively and ultimately to offer improved services and better commissioning. The article ends in a summary of the actions that the two organisations will be taking to help protect and preserve local Supporting People services and to make sure that Supporting People will develop, adapt and respond to future needs.

Housing‐related support funded by Supporting People has developed in line with traditional service areas relating to criminal justice, health and social care. This means that opportunities for developing integrated services geared to meeting the needs of mentally disordered offenders have been limited. Using a case study to explore service needs, a rethink of commissioning and support roles is recommended for forensic mental health services.

The Audit Commission has produced a review of the Supporting People programme covering the period 2005‐2009. This article summarises the review, which covers the impact of the Supporting People programme, a review of the Government's response to the Audit Commission's 2005 report, an assessment of ongoing and new challenges and options for overcoming identified barriers. Although there is evidence of poor understanding and implementation in some areas, overall the benefits of good housing‐related support services and their preventative value remain important.

Social inclusion means ensuring that all individuals, despite any particular perceived ‘differentness’ (Sayce, 2000; Harrison & Davis, 2001) or disadvantage in life, may nevertheless feel at home in the world and find a sense of belonging in their local community. But the most important place to feel at home is at home.

Following the Communities and Local Government (CLG) pilot exercise, all sites remain committed to the concept of individual budgets. There are many positive stories of how individual budgets (IBs) have made a real difference to people's lives, enabling true person‐centred support and informed choices about integrated packages of care and support. There were also impressive examples of creative joint working at site level, where sites adopted pragmatic solutions and worked round obstacles wherever possible. Based on experiences to date, all the pilot sites feel that IBs have a key role to play, but that they should not be considered as the only option for personalising housing‐ related support services and increasing choice. Commissioned Supporting People (SP) services can be responsive and person‐centred, as well as providing consistent coverage over large geographical areas, and some authorities consider that commissioned SP services can work alongside IBs and promoted this model as a viable alternative. More work is needed to understand better how IBs can work together with commissioned services to deliver a seamless service.

This paper is an extended review and expert commentary on a recently published study by the Centre for Housing Policy (CHP) which discusses the complexities of research in “housing related support” in the UK context, and proposes further work. This review aims to explore the strengths and limitations of the study; and the potential wider relevance outside the UK research context.

The review methodology is traditionally that of expert opinion. The reviewer draws upon previous evaluation studies of mental health and housing, commissioned by the UK Dept of Health, the (Dept of) Communities and Local Government, the National Institute for Mental Health in England, and the Care Services Improvement Partnership, including additional material on the Mental Health Minimum Dataset.

The CHP report reviewed raises important questions over the complexities of evidencing innovative services. Despite some omissions, it should be helpful to health local commissioners in assessing the value of services; and the further research the report proposes is to be welcomed. The report also provides a useful introduction to “housing related support” for an international research audience, less familiar with the UK social policy and funding context.

The review introduces and recommends the CHP study – which is itself a valuable contribution to future research on housing‐related support – to a wider audience. The review also includes additional material never before published on the potential research value in the context of the Mental Health Minimum Dataset.

The Government's drive to improve the overall health of the population, by tackling health inequalities and measures such as reducing falls and ending fuel poverty, has created a policy framework to address the housing related aspects of health. Opportunities for the NHS and local authorities to work with the voluntary sector to achieve these aims mean that there are new possibilities for wide‐ranging, innovative responses to improving people's health by tackling housing issues.Care & Repair England has undertaken research which examines how home improvement agencies (HIAs) are working with health‐sector partners to bring about health improvement through housing‐related initiatives and services.The resulting report, Healthy Homes, Healthier Lives, brings together key evidence that demonstrates the beneficial impact of improved housing conditions on health and examines the current policy context. A spectrum of joint projects is profiled including schemes providing information and training for health and care sector staff, a range of joint approaches to falls prevention, hospital discharge services and initiatives to address fuel poverty and cold, damp housing.

This review for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has been carried out while government departments, local statutory authorities, provider organisations and voluntary and service user groups are still working up to the introduction of Supporting People in 2003. There is concern that the involvement of social services and health agencies in planning and service commissioning could lead to resources going into mainstream community care and health programmes, leaving less available to support those who come into Supporting People by a homelessness, housing or probation/prison route.

This article reports on research into the introduction of electronic service delivery (ESD) by social landlords, social services and charities conducted during 2000‐2001 which collected data on the progress that had been made in developing ESD. It included interviews with service users, including older people, people with a mental health problem and vulnerable young people. Potential benefits are balanced by the concerns of service users that they would be obliged to make use of ESD, which would risk the further marginalisation of some people who are often socially, politically and economically excluded.