Charities campaign to make government improve unsafe homes

Safe Homes Now say that many of the homes dangerous to health are cold, in need of repair or have serious hazards.

The campaign reflects a growing demand for action on the issue with new polling revealing more than half of those surveyed say that the government should be doing more to support people in ensuring their homes are in a good condition.

The survey found that one in four people are worried about the impact the condition of their home has on their family’s health, rising to one in three people in the private rented sector and almost one in two tenants housing association properties.

The new poll, commissioned by campaign founders the Centre for Ageing Better, reveals that 54 per cent of people say that it has become more difficult to keep their home warm over the past two years.

Two in five people say that it has become more difficult to keep their home in a good state of repair and one in four say it has become more difficult to keep their home free from hazards and defects.

The Safe Homes Now campaign, which is supported by nine charities including St John Ambulance, Race Equality Foundation and The Runnymede Trust, is calling for a national strategy to tackle the poor quality of the country’s homes.

Dr Carole Easton OBE, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “No one should have to live in a dangerous home that damages their health or the health of their family. Poor quality housing is severely damaging the health of millions of children, adults and pensioners and incurring huge healthcare costs and putting enormous strain on health services.

“Building new homes will not adequately solve the problem because four in five homes that will exist in 2050 have already been built. It is shocking that there is virtually no consideration of how we are going to address the quality of our properties to prevent inflicting further harm on the health of the nation.

“As our survey shows, being able to afford to have home improvement work is a significant barrier but it is not the only problem. People don’t know who to trust or where to get advice on what needs to be done to make their homes safe.

“With a greater political priority and adequate resourcing, we could fix all unsafe homes in this country and help ensure everyone has the opportunity for longer and healthier lives.”

Data analysis by the Centre for Ageing Better shows homes with an Energy Performance Certificate of D or worse are in the majority in three out of four parliamentary constituencies in England.

It also shows that almost one in four homes in the private rented sector fail the decent homes standard compared to around one in seven owner-occupied and one in ten socially rented homes.

Around one in seven homes built between 1981 and 1990 are now classed as non-decent, a higher proportion than for post-war homes, built between 1945 and 1964. Around one in three homes built before 1919 now poses a health risk to their residents.