Europe, UK (Commonwealth Union) – A recent report from the UCL Institute of Health Equity (UCL IHE) highlights the worsening disparities exacerbated by the failure to take substantive action to address the issue of cold homes in Britain over the past decade. This failure has pushed millions of households to the brink of crisis.
In a follow-up to the 2011 study on “The Health Impacts of Cold Homes and Fuel Poverty,” the new analysis, drawing from data in the government’s English Housing Survey, reveals that 9.6 million UK households currently reside in inadequately insulated homes (rated Energy Performance Certificate D or below) while earning incomes below the threshold necessary to afford a decent standard of living, including adequate housing, heating, and essential necessities.
Commissioned by Friends of the Earth and spearheaded by UCL IHE, the report titled ‘Left out in the cold: the hidden health costs of Britain’s cold homes’ underscores these pressing concerns.
Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of UCL IHE, denounced the situation, labeling it a “national disgrace” that millions of households in a wealthy nation like Britain are living in cold homes, with one-third of UK households unable to afford a decent standard of living due to being in poorly insulated homes.
“Cold homes are a public health hazard: those living in them have a much higher risk of developing poor physical and mental health, which is placing an additional burden onto an already overstretched NHS and contributing to the UK’s poor productivity.
The report underscores research indicating that adults enduring prolonged exposure to cold temperatures at home face twice the risk of developing new mental health conditions, while exacerbating existing ones triples the risk.
Concurrently, a quarter (28%) of children residing in cold homes are susceptible to experiencing multiple mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression. Factors such as physical discomfort, adverse health effects of cold, financial strain, social isolation, and loneliness are believed to collectively impact mental well-being negatively, according to the report.
