Health & Housing Impact Network

Building healthy homes at pace – masterclass series

A roof garden on a new housing development. In the foreground you can see a green and play equipment. People are looking over the balcony towards blocks of modern homes in the background

Our masterclasses cover measuring health outcomes, post-occupancy evaluation and the impact of intensification. Sign up to develop your skills to prioritise health equity when building new homes. 

As part of our Health and Housing Impact Network, we are running a masterclass series in 2025. You will gain vital practical skills to deliver healthy homes in a period of growth.  

The recent publication of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Homes and Buildings’ Healthy Homes Manifesto demonstrates the strategic importance of getting this right. 

We’ve based masterclasses on topics where we’ve identified gaps in knowledge, from our work in the network to date. You’ll learn from experts in their field, drawing on successful projects and lessons learned. 

Our masterclass series

  1. Setting and measuring health outcomes
  2. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE)
  3. Health impacts of intensification

One: Setting and measuring health outcomes 

Wednesday 18 June 10am to 12pm online

Read the write up. This session included:   

  • agreeing meaningful and realistic outcomes from the beginning 
  • building understanding of the public health approach and “offer” at different stages 
  • getting the right data from the right sources to build the case and track impact in the context of growth 
  • focusing on improving outcomes for those in marginalised groups. 

Our public health expert is Dr Rosie Rowe who specialises in addressing the wider determinants of health.  She led the development of Healthy Place Shaping in Oxfordshire, as Programme Director of Bicester Healthy New Town. She was then employed by Oxfordshire County Council to scale the healthy place-shaping approach across Oxfordshire.  Rosie has extensive experience in linking planning and health and assessing whether spatial plans will improve health outcomes. 

Two: Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) 

Read the write up. This session included:  

  • ensuring measurable health outcomes are integral to this 
  • making the case for investment in robust POE to inform improvements and future developments and build resident trust 
  • understanding the full range of creative methods that can be deployed for effective POE 
  • good practice in resident engagement. 

Our experts are architects, Pollard Thomas Edwards. They have delivered a number of exemplar POE projects and will draw on examples including Dover Court and King Square which highlight the importance of meaningful resident engagement in meeting health outcomes in estate regeneration.

They’ll also provide guidance from their Happy Homes toolkit. This zeroes in on the home and its immediate surroundings, equipping designers with firsthand evidence and empowering clients to recognise the genuine social value embedded in the homes they deliver. 

Three: Health impacts of intensification  

Read the write up. This session included:  

  • embedding good health and wellbeing in the design of small sites, tall buildings and upward extensions 
  • maximising the potential of transport and public realm infrastructure around new homes to promote good health 
  • prioritising the spaces between homes to ensure residents can make healthy choices 
  • ensuring health and wellbeing are not compromised within permitted development schemes. 

Our expert is Holly Lewis from FoL members We Made That. Holly co-founded architecture and urbanism practice in 2006 and is a trusted voice in shaping healthy, fair and well-designed places. Holly is the Mayor of London’s Design Advocate and a Design Council Expert.

She contributed as a national High Streets Task Force Expert. Currently, she is the Town Architect for Hackney Central and chairs the Croydon Design Review Panel.  Holly will draw on her work in Hackney to track progress on health outcomes within town centre regeneration, as well as planning for active communities in the grey belt in Enfield. 

The Health & Housing Impact Network programme for 2025/26 focuses on ways to deliver healthy homes while meeting the government’s ambitious housing targets.

We need more housing, and we need to work together to make sure it’s the best possible housing, not housing at any cost. Read more about our theme for this year and overall objectives here.

The Health & Housing Impact Network is supported by Impact on Urban Health

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