Purpose
– This paper aims to present an overview of the current state of evidence on the effect of housing circumstances, and housing‐related interventions, on adult mental health and well‐being. It covers the entire range of health from chronic illness to positive thriving, and both individual and community‐level/public health.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper is based upon a purposive review, commissioned originally for the UK Department of Health; and therefore is selective in giving priority to research relevant to public policy considerations, and to the UK context. Research with a variety of methodological foundations is considered, where robust enough by its own standards.
Findings
– The available evidence gives conditional support to policies accentuating empowerment at individual and community levels; early intervention; locality or place‐based interventions; and integrated working practice. The complexity of methodological issues emerges as a key challenge for research in this field, and for the prospect of evidence‐based national policy. Meanwhile local knowledge and interpretation of data in context may be more reliable than context‐blind studies.
Research limitations/implications
– Where “hard evidence” is unavailable, reports of the lived experience of individuals and in communities remain a legitimate basis for policy and commissioning.
Originality/value
– This appears to be the first attempt in print to cover such a wide canvas in one overview.