HAUS (Health Appraisal of Urban Systems) is an economic valuation model designed for use in urban planning in the UK.

The model was developed by staff in the Department of Economics during the Tackling Root Causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development (TRUUD) research project.

The methodology has been peer-reviewed and tested with teams in local and national government, and is recommended for use in appraisal by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is compliant with the Green Book.

About HAUS

How do we put health at the heart of urban decision-making?

We know the environment around where we live can have a big impact on health, but it can be hard for us to anticipate the magnitude of effect for an individual site, or to compare lots of different health impacts across alternative options.

The HAUS model can help users understand the potential health and economic impacts of their plans for an area.

What HAUS does

HAUS answers this question:

“If a change is made to an area where people live, what could be the impact on health and how can we value this?”

HAUS includes conditions within the home (such as cold or safety features) and wider factors, such as the natural environment (like air/noise pollution and green space), transport, socio-economic factors (including crime or deprivation), climate change and community infrastructure (things like walkability and access to healthy food).

HAUS estimates changes in health risk and calculates the societal cost of illness, including mortality, mental and physical illness, and where the burden falls across the community. Findings should not be interpreted as a prediction, but can be used to support decision-making by illustrating the magnitude and direction of potential health changes, based on the best available evidence and clear assumptions.

Find out more about the development of the HAUS model

Access the HAUS model

Get access to the HAUS model

HAUS is available as an Excel workbook.

To request a copy of the HAUS Model, you must complete our form and agree to the terms and conditions of use. You will then receive an email with a copy of the model workbook and the user guide.

To access HAUS, you will be asked to share some personal information (including name, email address, and organisation). Find out more about how we will use this data and your rights.

Contact us

We are developing a new version of HAUS. Your feedback on the model will help us shape future updates, so we would love to hear from you.

To contact the HAUS development team, email haus@bath.ac.uk

Acknowledgements

Funders statement

The first version of HAUS was supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership, an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England) and the UK devolved administrations, and leading health research charities. Its ongoing development is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

We are grateful to these funders for their support.

About the team behind HAUS

The lead author of HAUS is Dr Eleanor Eaton. We are grateful to the many individuals and organisations who have helped us by giving advice and feedback on the model, testing and reviewing versions, and working with us on case study applications.

Key contributors (HAUS version 1.0)

Eleanor Eaton (conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, data collection/curation, software development, formal analysis, writing); Alistair Hunt (supervision (model development), methodology (economics), conceptualisation, review, funding acquisition); Daniel Black (conceptualisation, funding acquisition, methodology (urban design), project administration/supervision); Janet Ige-Elegbede (literature reviews on urban determinants of health).