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Massive investment has been allocated by the UK government to improve the quality of its programme of rented social housing over the next five years. Central to the achievement of this aim will be the incorporation of sustainability features within the building projects associated with this development programme. A sustainable development policy that addresses environment, economy and society in equal measure is a new funding requirement for social housing projects. There is a gap between policy and practice in two areas: (i) the possession or otherwise of a sustainable development (SD) policy; and (ii) the relative importance given to differing features of sustainability. The perceptions and practice of built environment professionals involved in the procurement of sustainable housing schemes has been gauged regarding SD policy. Quantitative data were collected from a randomized sample of 338 developing registered social landlords (RSLs). The results show that only a minority of respondent organizations have developed a sustainable development policy and that environmental, economical and societal aspects of sustainability are not given equal weighting. This does not reflect governmental policy and suggests that sustainability is not being fully addressed in the procurement of social housing projects. Further work is needed to evaluate the links between sustainability and procurement approaches, and to model the benefits of delivering sustainable housing projects for RSLs in the UK.Sustainability, housing development, policy, housing associations,

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The aim of this analysis was to examine the cost-effectiveness of Contreet Foam (A) in comparison with three other commonly used venous leg ulcer treatment protocols: Aquacel Ag (B), Actisorb Silver (C) and Iodoflex (D). A health-economic analysis reflecting the UK treatment practice and cost structure was performed. The analysis was set up to assess the cost of relative wound area reduction over a 4-week treatment period. The model was validated by a UK expert panel consisting of four wound care specialists. To assure that the 4-week model had a realistic link to cost-effectiveness of complete wound healing, a Markov analysis was also performed. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to ensure validity. Protocol A and C proved to be the most effective treatments. The mean relative reduction in wound area after 4 weeks of treatment was 50.2% (protocol A), 23.9% (protocol B), 44.6% (protocol C) and 36.0% (protocol D). Cost-effectiveness ratios showed that protocol A proved to be the most cost-effective treatment, and protocol B the least. The cost per percentage reduction in wound area was 9.50 UK pounds for protocol A, compared to 16.50-17.60 UK pounds for the other treatment options. The cost-effectiveness of complete healing (Markov analysis) and sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. Using Contreet Foam instead of the other dressing alternatives may imply savings of 2.2-4.4 million UK pounds per year to the National Health Service.