Mental Wellbeing, Housing Provision and Social Valuation in a United Kingdom Context: A Planning Issue?

This paper provides insights into the influence of housing quality on occupier mental wellbeing based on a critical review of interdisciplinary literature spanning housing, health and wellbeing, autonomy, and social value. We consider the significance of extant research findings for the mental wellbeing of housing occupants and indicate the relevance for planning. We find evidence of the relationship between housing occupier autonomy for the lived experience of wellness and discuss the need for mental wellbeing valuation to inform social housing provision in the United Kingdom. We introduce an original conceptual framework representing components of the housing environment shaping occupier mental wellbeing and conclude that planning in its coordinative capacity has the capability to connect housing provision with mental wellbeing determinants. To do so, however, will require a radical shift in the present UK politics of social housing provision and planning.