How healthy is social housing?

Sponsored by Aico

Inside Housing’s annual Healthy Homes poll, in association with Aico, reveals that the sector has work to do to fulfil government aims for tenant health

Picture: Hiran Perera

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Inside Housing's annual Healthy Homes poll, in association with Aico, reveals that the sector has work to do to fulfil government aims for tenant health (sponsored) #UKhousing

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Housing receives prominent namechecks in the manifesto on which the current government was elected, but there is one significant mention that is easily missed. It comes in the chapter on building an NHS that is fit for the future, in the form of a pledge to “tackle the social determinants of health”.

In that promise to address the non-medical factors influencing someone’s well-being, housing plays a central role.

Inside Housing’s Healthy Homes campaign, run in association with home technology specialist Aico, is exploring this connection.

The proportion who consider their organisation to have excellent knowledge of health risks in specific homes also fell, down from 15% to 9%. And while most (66%) said their organisation generally has good knowledge of risks and which homes are affected, a fifth described this knowledge as “poor” and 6% labelled it “very poor”, up five percentage points on 2024.

Communication emerged as the most common reason preventing an understanding of the health risks within specific homes. Just over a quarter of respondents said the biggest problem is insufficient communication with residents, with their organisation struggling to gain insight from households.

Like last year, we asked respondents to assess how effectively their own organisation shares information about health risks with other relevant bodies and authorities. Around 11% described their organisation as “excellent” at this, up from 10%, and just over half (51%) as “good”, broadly in line with 2024.

However, there was limited confidence in the sector’s ability to work effectively with partners on health issues. Responding to a new question for 2025, just 3% of participants said the social housing sector is working “very well” with partners to identify and address home health risks. And while 39% said they think the sector is working “fairly well” in this regard, 48% feel that it is “poor” at working with partners on health issues and 10% consider it “very poor”.

61%
Percentage of respondents who are concerned about the extent to which social homes are affecting residents’ health

4%
Percentage of respondents who believe social homes are “well-suited to supporting the health” of residents

There was even less confidence in the NHS’s ability to work with partners, including the social housing sector, to identify and address home health issues. Fifty-seven per cent said the NHS is “poor” at this type of partnership working, while 15% judged it “very poor”.

The verdict on the community and voluntary sectors was more favourable. Half of respondents said they feel these perform “fairly well” in working with partners to address issues in the home that could harm health. Yet 36% still characterised community and voluntary sector performance here as “poor” or “very poor”.

As in 2024, damp and mould are seen as the most pressing health issue for social tenants. Asked to rank a range of hazards, 58% of respondents said damp and mould concern them the most, up from 54% last year.

The survey revealed a strong belief that social landlords are responsible for identifying residents whose homes were harming their health. Indeed, 68% of those who completed this year’s survey described it as a “central responsibility”. Around a fifth emphasised that, while it is a key duty for social landlords, it should be shared with other organisations.

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