Healthy lives start at home. The link between health and housing is not abstract or optional—it is immediate and measurable in daily routines, stress levels, exposure to hazards, and access to services. A home’s quality, location, affordability, and stability can either buffer people from risk or amplify it. When homes are safe, warm, dry, accessible, and connected, they support prevention, dignified care, and better outcomes across the life course. When they are not, the consequences show up in clinics, emergency departments, and long-term care costs. This page explains why homes are foundational to health and what practical steps communities can take.
The phrase “housing and health” captures multiple, overlapping pathways:
1) Quality of the dwelling. Cold, damp, and poorly ventilated homes aggravate respiratory conditions and allergies; excessive heat raises cardiovascular risk; hazards such as loose wiring, steep stairs, or poor lighting increase injuries. Overcrowding can accelerate the spread of infections and elevate stress. Simple, proven measures—adequate insulation, ventilation, safe heating and cooling, handrails, non-slip flooring, smoke/CO detectors—reduce these risks while boosting comfort and sleep quality.
2) Stability and affordability. Housing instability—rent arrears, evictions, frequent moves—creates chronic stress that undermines mental health and medication adherence. High housing costs crowd out spending on nutritious food, transport, childcare, and medications. Stable, affordable tenancies and pathways from temporary accommodation into permanent homes allow individuals and families to plan, work, study, and manage conditions more effectively.
3) Location and connectivity. A home’s neighbourhood determines access to green space, social networks, employment, schools, grocery options, and safe transport. Proximity to primary care, pharmacies, and community services matters; so does broadband. Reliable internet enables telehealth, remote monitoring, and health education—especially vital for rural residents, people with mobility challenges, and caregivers juggling work and family.
4) Design for life stages. Healthy homes evolve with people. Step-free entries, wider doorways, good lighting, lever handles, and accessible bathrooms allow older adults and people with disabilities to live safely and independently. For children, quiet, low-stress environments support development and learning. For those managing chronic disease, space for equipment, refrigeration for medications, and safe storage make daily care feasible.
5) Social connection. Homes are hubs for relationships. Loneliness and isolation have tangible health impacts; housing models that foster community—co-housing, shared gardens, well-designed common areas—can increase resilience and mutual support, reducing the burden on formal services.
Public health increasingly recognises housing as a determinant of health—an upstream factor that shapes downstream outcomes. Because housing sits at the intersection of planning, social care, energy, and healthcare, progress requires coordinated action rather than isolated projects.
Target the basics first. Invest in warm, dry, safe homes: insulation, draft-proofing, ventilation upgrades, efficient heating/cooling, and hazard remediation. These improvements cut energy bills and reduce avoidable hospital visits. Address indoor air quality with source control (e.g., moisture management), filtration where appropriate, and education on safe appliance use.
Design for equity. Housing inequities mirror health inequities. People experiencing homelessness, migrants, and low-income households face the steepest barriers and highest risks. Prioritise upgrades and new supply for these groups; remove accessibility barriers; and ensure culturally appropriate engagement so that solutions reflect community priorities. Pair housing with wrap-around supports—case management, benefits advice, and primary care enrolment—to make stability stick.
Integrate health and housing services. When health systems screen for housing risks (cold, damp, overcrowding, mould, risk of eviction) and refer directly to trusted housing partners, people get help earlier. Conversely, housing providers can embed health touchpoints—community nurses, health navigators, or digital kiosks in lobbies. Data-sharing agreements (privacy-preserving and consent-based) allow teams to coordinate without making residents repeat their story.
Leverage digital tools. Affordable sensors can flag unsafe temperatures, humidity, or air quality; telehealth keeps follow-ups convenient; remote monitoring supports people living with chronic conditions; simple apps enable maintenance requests and education in multiple languages. Technology does not replace human care, but it can extend reach, personalise support, and surface risks before they escalate.
Measure what matters. Track not only units upgraded or built, but also outcomes: fewer falls, reduced heat- or cold-related events, better asthma control, improved mental wellbeing, lower energy burden, and sustained tenancy. Use these metrics to align incentives across funders—municipalities, housing associations, health systems, and impact investors—so savings in one budget can help finance interventions in another.
Activate local ecosystems. No single actor can fix housing alone. Bring together city planners, health providers, housing associations, energy and retrofit companies, community groups, and tech partners. Co-design solutions with residents; pilot, learn, and scale. Whether it’s a hospital funding home retrofits to cut readmissions, a landlord adopting universal design across refurbishments, or a community clinic prescribing insulation alongside inhalers, the most effective actions are cross-sector by design.
If we want healthier people and fairer outcomes, start where health begins—at home. Elevate health and housing as a shared mission, treat housing and health as inseparable in policy and practice, and act on housing as a determinant of health with practical upgrades, integrated services, and resident-centered design.
