Health and social services are frequently left out of plans to regenerate run-down areas, a report by Leeds University's Nuffield Institute for Health has found.

Author Peter Fletcher said that, as a result, the housing, care and support needs of vulnerable people were often overlooked, leading to frustration, exclusion and the danger that people could lose their homes. Although good one-off initiatives did exist, 'few areas had any strategic approach to linking the housing aspects of community care into regeneration planning', the report says.

It calls for joint guidance from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Department of Health to promote integrated approaches at local level, map needs and commission services.

Nuffield Institute director Gerald Wistow said this was particularly important given the recent launch of the government's national strategy for neighbourhood renewal.