At the moment, and subsequently over the next few years, public finances are almost definitely going to dominate the political agenda. It is said that the decline in public expenditure will collide with the nation's 'time bomb' of the challenge caring for the elderly population.

The Guardian has published a list of the facts which carers will have to face: Households headed by people aged over 65 years will increase by 48 per cent, or 2.4 million households by 2026, current trends suggest that living longer means more of a chance of being ill. Between 1981 and 2002, the years living with ill health for men increased from 6.4 to 8.8, and for women from 10.1 to 10.6. Care home admissions cost on average £40,000 a year for each resident.  40 per cent of the total hospital and community health care costs (of £32bn) are spent on over 65 year olds – 16 per cent of the population.

The government claim that taking no action would result in a 325 per cent increase by 2041. A new report has shown a way forward, the Housing, Health and Care by the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Department of Health's housing learning and improvement network.

The report shows that health, social care and housing services can work together to make sure people with health and care needs, live in better condition, therefore avoiding the need to go to hospital and into residential care. It challenges the government to invest long term. Housing professionals say that a decent home and building is the key for successful delivery in social care, and will potentially save money in the long term on health problems.