Housing and health

 Unsafe, low-quality, overcrowded housing drives health inequities by creating the conditions that expose people to violence and injuries and promote ill-health from infectious and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Energy inefficient housing and inadequate incomes create energy poverty – especially for older people with disabilities, young children, and families who spend more time at home. Cold indoor temperatures can affect physical and mental health, especially for older people, and impair children’s learning. Extreme indoor heat can lead to heat exhaustion, stroke, and heart disease. Poor housing also exposes people to toxic materials, indoor air pollution low-quality housing design and maintenance hazards, such as falls.

 COVID-19, housing, and health: COVID-19 has increased people’s exposure to the health risks of poor housing through the global “stay at home” response. Around one billion people live in urban slums and are highly susceptible to COVID19 due to housing and water and sanitation challenges. Homeless people are worst affected and run the greatest risk of physical and mental health problems, NCDs and infectious diseases. COVID-19 has also shown the strong influence housing can have on individual and community resilience, well-being, and the ability to access wider support networks.

 Action: Improved housing conditions can save lives, prevent disease, and increase quality of life. 

They can be ensured through construction of social housing; loans and subsidies; and laws and regulations that ensure homes are safe, healthy, and accessible. Healthy housing enables neighbourliness – a value that has been critical during COVID-19, where isolated older people were supported by neighbours during lockdown. Healthy housing requires collaboration between the health and other sectors and joint efforts across all government levels.