At Medact, we’ve long known that bad housing hurts health – but our new report, Home, Sick Home, shows just how deep the crisis really runs.
Based on responses from over 2,000 healthcare workers across the UK, this report is a wake-up call. The numbers are stark: three out of four health workers told us they regularly see patients whose health is being damaged by poor housing. And over one in ten say they witness this almost every day.
We see it all the time – patients coming in with respiratory infections, chronic anxiety, or worsening mobility issues. We treat the symptoms, but too often we’re forced to discharge them right back into the cold, damp, overcrowded homes that made them sick in the first place.
As one clinical psychologist, Sophia, put it:
“We’re not treating patients. We’re sending them back into the very conditions that made them sick.”
The stories and data we’ve gathered paint a clear picture: housing in the UK isn’t just a social issue – it’s a public health emergency. And it’s hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. Children developing asthma in mouldy flats. Elderly people having to choose between heating and eating. Disabled people trapped in homes that don’t meet their needs.
Here are just a few of the key findings:
- 70% of health workers regularly see mental health problems linked to housing
- 65% say patients are living in homes that are dangerously cold
- 63% say unaffordable rents are directly harming health
- 67% see respiratory issues in children caused by damp and mould
- 66% have treated disabled people in housing conditions making them sick – at least once a month
This isn’t sustainable. Not for the people living in these conditions, and not for the NHS.
What’s more, healthcare workers overwhelmingly support political solutions. Nearly 70% say making renting more affordable would ease pressure on the NHS, and 58% say building more social housing is part of the answer. But perhaps most tellingly, two-thirds of us say we feel powerless to help.
That’s why Home, Sick Home doesn’t stop at diagnosis – it offers a prescription for change. We outline ten concrete recommendations, including rent controls, a mass retrofitting programme, building more social housing, and a social energy guarantee to ensure people can heat their homes safely.
We know what good housing does for health – just as we know what poor housing takes away.
We need bold policies that tackle the housing crisis at its root. We need action that puts people’s health before profit. And we need to stop accepting that a child growing up with mould in their lungs is somehow normal.
As children’s doctor Krishnan told us, “I never thought I’d see a rise in Victorian-age diseases.”
But we are seeing it. And it’s avoidable.
We invite you to read the report, share it widely, and raise your voice with us. Because healthcare alone can’t fix this. Housing is healthcare.
Get in touch to find out more: [email protected]
