Clothes fit for unfit homes

Our homes are more than just four walls and a roof over our heads; they’re an essential building block for our health and wellbeing. 

When we live in safe, warm, and good-quality homes, it can add years to our lives – we shouldn’t need to wear protective clothing in our own home. However, currently one in four of us across the UK, are living in homes which are making us ill from issues like damp, cold and mould which can trigger asthma attacks, worsen respiratory conditions, and cause infections. Meanwhile, the cold puts extra strain on our hearts and blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes and for older people, it can mean slower recovery from illness. For children, it can lead to more time off school with coughs, colds and wheezing; and for adults, missed workdays and mounting stress. 

Today’s campaign, organised by Health Equals, is not only highlighting that 15 million people in the UK are living in conditions like these, but also that we aren’t all impacted equally.  

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 have it even tougher — usually because of things they can’t control, like buildings that aren’t properly maintained, long waits for repairs, or not having the money to move somewhere better. 

Likewise, people living in homes with damp or other issues are often already vulnerable, coping with things like asthma or weaker immune systems. And almost half of the people affected by damp or mould have children, which means far too many children and young people are growing up in conditions that can really harm their health. 

We are therefore joining their call for a cross-government health inequalities strategy that puts health at the heart of Government — from setting realistic but ambitious targets to reduce health inequalities to establishing clear roles for all departments to prioritise and restore the building blocks of health.