Almshouse residents may live up to two and a half years longer, study finds

Co-author says UK's oldest form of social housing could be part of solution to care crisis

Poor, older people living in almshouses enjoy longer lives than far wealthier people living elsewhere, a study has found.

The secret to longer life has been intensely sought after for centuries. But research using data from almshouses going back 100 years has found that the solution devised in early medieval times to help poverty-stricken knights returning from the Crusades is still relevant today.