The Audit Commission has released a new report ‘Under Pressure - tackling the financial challenge for councils of an ageing population' . The report claims that most councils do not know enough about the costs of their ageing population and that they may miss the savings that could flow from preventative services and better work with other organisations.

The report highlights how poor housing can increase the need for care, if older people can no longer manage in their own homes, or if living conditions harm their health. A third of older people live in non-decent housing, with older people in private rented accommodation in the worst conditions. Spending between £2,000 and £20,000 in one-off adaptations to an older person's home can have a payback period between three months and three years, if it enables a person to remain in their own home. Home improvement agencies and technologies such as telecare are recognised in the report as preventative ways to redesign services to save councils money in the future.