• People’s Health Trust, a health equity funder, announces £1 million programme supporting ten projects across England, Scotland and Wales.
  • Homes for Health will support better health among marginalised people by addressing unfit housing conditions.
  • Mould, damp and other hazards cause respiratory, muscular-skeletal and cardiovascular problems as well as poor mental health.
  • Organisations running ten projects funded by People’s Health Trust include housing specialists ACORN and Living Rent as well as community charities tackling health inequalities in their neighbourhoods.

Today, Thursday 16 November, health equity funder People’s Health Trust announces the launch of its Homes for Health funding programme supporting ten projects across Great Britain to improve ill health caused by unsuitable housing conditions.

Homes for Health will be supported through one million pounds of People’s Health Trust resources, including almost £600,000 in grant funding which will be spread across ten projects. The programme is a collaboration between the Trust and experts from housing, community, and racial justice charities, delivering projects that respond to the growing problem of unfit private and social rented homes and their effects on tenants’ physical and mental health.

The programme aims to connect the issues of housing and health in communities across England, Scotland and Wales and comes at an important time for tenants. In 2020, two-year old Awaab Ishak died due to exposure to black mould in his family’s social rented home. His death and the many other cases of ill health linked to living conditions are avoidable. People’s Health Trust believes that no one’s health should be negatively affected by where they live.

Having a safe, secure and comfortable home is a critical building block of health, but it is not available to everyone. People on low-incomes, disabled people, and people from communities experiencing racial inequity are disproportionately affected by poor-quality homes, which further entrenches health inequalities. In 2021, 14 per cent of privately rented homes and four per cent of social rented homes in England contained a category one hazard, for example severe damp and mould and excess cold. 32 per cent of households in Wales lived in homes with a hazard in 2020 and in Scotland in 2019, 30 per cent of private rented homes and 20 per cent of social rented homes had urgent disrepair to one or more critical elements.

Speaking on the launch of Homes for Health, People’s Health Trust’s Chief Executive, John Hume, said:

“Too many private rented and social housing homes in Great Britain are not fit for purpose, with widespread damp, mould and other serious hazards which harm the health of millions of tenants. Some of the most marginalised members of our communities are subjected to health-altering conditions, over which they have little or no control. Our investment in Homes for Health seeks to demonstrate how local communities can work together with housing and health partners to create positive change to improve living conditions and, ultimately, their health and wellbeing.”

The organisations receiving funding through Homes for Health are housing specialists ACORN and Living Rent; community organisers Citizens UK; local community charities Community Renewal Trust and Edberts House; and community organisations addressing racial justice Caribbean & African Health Network and Leeds Muslim Youth Forum.

Elli Folkesson, Chair of Living Rent, said:

“Being part of the Homes for Health programme is supporting our work in fighting for secure, quality, affordable housing for everyone. This funding is allowing us to continue to build strength in our communities and ensure that tenants are more resilient to the ongoing economic and social challenges.

Safe, quality, affordable housing is crucial in ensuring tenants’ health and wellbeing. We have all seen the impact that poor quality housing has on our health: from mould and damp exacerbating lung conditions and inhibiting child development, to the poor mental health that comes from insecure housing. Our access to good quality housing is vital in feeling safe and secure and with this support from People’s Health Trust, we will continue to campaign for quality homes for tenants to improve health.”

Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Executive of Caribbean & African Health Network, said:

“We’re excited to be part of the Homes for Health programme, which aims to enhance the health and wellbeing of our communities through improved housing conditions.

Caribbean and African people have been affected by increasingly unfit homes, which has adversely affected communities experiencing racial inequity. The quality of our homes is fundamental to our quality of life, but more and more people are feeling the effects of the current housing crisis on their mental and physical health, as highlighted during the pandemic. Working with People’s Health Trust, local policy makers, and collaborators on Homes for Health will support us to fight for better quality homes that benefit the health of our community and create improved sense of value.”

Homes for Health projects are expected to last 21 months. Activities are co-produced with communities with the focus on housing conditions, and will include one or more of the following:

• Community organising or similar approaches

• Collective action to address poor private or social landlord practices

• Campaigning to raise awareness of particular issues

• Partnering with local agencies and service providers.

Notes to editors

1. Media Enquiries

For media enquiries about People’s Health Trust and Homes for Health, please contact Bradford Watson – press@peopleshealthtrust.org.uk / 020 4548 0940

2. Homes for Health is a funding programme and collaboration between the Trust and experts from housing, community, and racial justice civil society organisations, delivering projects that respond to the growing problem of unfit private and social rented homes and their effects on tenants’ physical and mental health. At the centre of the work are marginalised people whose intersecting identities make them more likely to be affected.

3. People’s Health Trust is an independent charity investing in local communities to help create a society without health inequalities. It works closely with six Community Interest Companies raising money through The Health Lottery and distributing grants.

Since 2011, People’s Health Trust has distributed £129 million to 3,500 local projects reaching 659,000 people, through money raised by The Health Lottery.

4. Funded organisations

The full list of projects awarded funding as part of the Homes for Health programme is:

  • ACORN – Holme Wood, Bradford
  • ACORN – Knowle West, Bristol
  • ACORN – Splott and Adamsdown, Cardiff
  • Caribbean & African Health Network – Gorton, Greater Manchester
  • Citizens UK – Ely, Cardiff
  • Community Renewal Trust – Govanhill, Glasgow
  • Edberts House – Gateshead, Tyneside
  • Leeds Muslim Youth Forum – Harehills, Leeds
  • Living Rent – Lochend, Restalrig and Craigentinny, Edinburgh
  • Living Rent – Knightswood, Glasgow.

5 . Quotes from all funded organisations

ACORN

Joe Kiggins, Development Officer at ACORN, said:


Being part of the Homes for Health programme will help us continue our work fighting for decent homes for everyone. This funding will allow us to progress towards seeing the changes that renters vitally need in their communities.

Improved housing standards will go a long way towards improving the health and wellbeing of tenants who have carried the burden of the current housing and cost of living crises and face unequal and unsafe housing conditions. With this support from People’s Health Trust, we will continue to fight for higher quality homes for renters, to improve health.”

Caribbean & African Health Network

Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Executive of Caribbean & African Health Network, said:

“We’re excited to be part of the Homes for Health programme, which aims to enhance the health and wellbeing of our communities through improved housing conditions.

Caribbean and African people have been affected by increasingly unfit homes, which has adversely affected communities experiencing racial inequity. The quality of our homes is fundamental to our quality of life, but more people are feeling the effects of the current housing crisis on their mental and physical health, as highlighted during the pandemic. Working with People’s Health Trust, local policy makers, and collaborators on Homes for Health will support us to fight for better quality homes that benefit the health of our community and create improved sense of value.”

Citizens UK

Fiona Meldrum, Senior Community Organiser at Citizens UK Wales, said:

“We’re delighted to be a part of People’s Health Trust’s Homes for Health Fund to improve health outcomes for some of the communities most affected by unfit housing. It’s no secret that housing is a generation-defining issue in the UK today, and communities across the entire Citizens UK network are experiencing a multitude of issues related to housing that isn’t fit-for-purpose, causing a massive impact on people's physical and mental health. We will use our community organising method to build the agency of local people in some of Wales’ most underserved communities, to amplify their voices and enable them to effect tangible, positive change on the housing issues that affect them day-to-day.”

Community Renewal Trust

Community Renewal Trust’s Chief Executive John Halliday, said:

“We are delighted to be involved with the Homes for Health programme. We work in a community in Govanhill, Glasgow with a high number of families, especially migrants, living in unsuitable damp, poorly insulated and overcrowded tenement housing. Every year we meet hundreds of vulnerable people whose health is directly affected, but we can offer limited options to address the systemic issues of housing. Collaborating with local partners, we are hoping to explore new community-led ways to address this through collective social action. We are sure that over time, we can make an impact on the physical and mental health of local residents, with a particular focus on Govanhill’s Roma.”

Edberts House

Sarah Gorman, Chief Executive Officer at Edberts House, said:

"Edberts House are delighted to be one of the Homes of Health partners. We know from our work in Primary Care that poor housing conditions have a negative impact on health in our communities. Our home should be a safe, warm, secure and welcoming haven - a vital building block in our wellbeing - and when mould, damp, lack of insulation and insecurity threaten that, it has serious implications, the cost of which has to be picked up in other areas of the system. People's Health Trust Homes for Health project will be able to highlight some of these problems, and advocate for positive change."

Leeds Muslim Youth Forum

"We are thrilled to be a member of the Homes for Health initiative, and look forward to improving housing conditions and promoting better physical and mental health within our communities.

The cost of living crisis, coupled with poor homes, has had a major impact on people in our communities who are already affected negatively and suffering from racial disparities.

Their quality of life is very much dependent upon the condition of their homes, moreover more and more people are experiencing poor health as a result of their present housing conditions.

Collaborating with People's Health Trust will enable us to continue to advocate for better quality housing that improves both their health and living conditions."

Living Rent

Elli Folkesson, Chair of Living Rent, said:

“Being part of the Homes for Health programme is supporting our work in fighting for secure, quality, affordable housing for everyone. The funding is allowing us to continue to build strength in our communities and ensure that tenants are more resilient to the ongoing economic and social challenges. Safe, quality, affordable housing is crucial in ensuring tenants health and wellbeing. We have all seen the impact that poor quality housing has on our health: from mould and damp exacerbating lung conditions and inhibiting child development, to the poor mental health that comes from insecure housing. Our access to good quality housing is vital in feeling safe and secure and with this support from People’s Health Trust, we will continue to campaign for quality homes for tenants to improve health.”

6. Data

The Housing health and safety rating system sets the criteria for assessing housing conditions in England and Wales. For Scotland, the latest data is from the Scottish House Condition Survey. Due to Covid-19, the latest data available for internal inspection in Scotland is 2019.