More than one in four people across the UK are living in homes that could make them ill from issues like damp, cold and mould, according to research by Health Equals, a coalition of nearly 100 organisations working to address the building blocks of health, Health Equals new report shows.
The research, based on data from Censuswide, found 15mn people in the UK live in homes with issues like damp, mould or cold that are putting their wellbeing at risk.
Damp and mould can trigger asthma attacks, worsen respiratory conditions and cause infections that linger for weeks. Cold conditions put extra strain on hearts and blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. For older people, it can mean slower recovery from illness, whilst for children it can lead to more time off school with coughs, colds and wheezing.
The research found 47% of people reporting issues like damp or mould also have children living in the same home. Some 21% of renters have issues like damp or mould, rising to 23% for those in rented social housing.
Families on lower incomes are almost twice as likely to have to deal with damp or mould, and four times as likely to live in homes that are too cold. Private renters and people in social housing often face tougher conditions, usually because of things they cannot control, like buildings that are not properly maintained, long waits for repairs, or not having the money to move somewhere better.
The North West, West Midlands, East Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber have some of the highest reported rates of damp, cold and mould. Some people in the UK are living up to 16 years less than others, with damp, cold and mould in homes part of the problem.
Regional disparity
Helen from Cardiff said she had really bad damp and mould from the time she moved into social housing five years ago. “I was calling the social housing provider every three days. My mental health was absolutely crushed. Coming home to mould and damp – it doesn’t just affect your physical health, it’s your mind too. It’s depressing. You lose the fight in you, and you want to give up,” she said.
Health Equals is calling for a cross-government health inequalities strategy that puts health at the heart of government, from setting targets to reduce health inequalities to establishing clear roles for all departments to prioritise the building blocks of health.
The coalition is pushing for urgent action by the government to ensure everyone has the chance of a safe and healthy home, including enforcing the Decent Home Standard across all private rented homes before 2035 and applying Awaab’s Law so landlords must act quickly on life-threatening hazards, introducing a Warm Homes Plan to cut fuel poverty, improve warmth and repair homes for those most in need, and setting a cross-government target to halve the number of ‘non-decent’ homes across all tenures and regions of the UK over the next decade.
Right now, there is a 10-year delay in applying decent home standards to private rented homes, meaning 10 more years living in homes that make people sick.
