Accredited official statistics

English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024: health and housing - fact sheet

Published 15 May 2025

Applies to England

The English Housing Survey (EHS) collects information on the characteristics and housing circumstances of households in England, as well as details of the quality and condition of homes. This publication sets out key information about the health of households, including the health of dependent children, and the quality of their homes.

Sections one to three examine how the relationship between household health and four housing condition measures have changed over time: the presence of damp, ability to keep warm during winter, presence of HHSRS Category 1 hazards and overcrowding.

Sections four and five explore how each relationship varies by tenure and household income.

The final sections explore the health of dependent children by housing quality metrics and outlines the most common types of health conditions among children.

The causes of poor health are complex and multi-faceted, influenced by a range of biological, social, and environmental factors. While this fact sheet explores the relationships between poor housing and health outcomes, it does not imply a direct causal link between the two. Other factors, such as age, socio-economic status, lifestyle choices, and genetic predisposition, also play a significant role in shaping health and well-being. The findings should be interpreted within this broader context, acknowledging the interplay of multiple determinants of health.

Overall, this fact sheet shows that households living in a poor-quality home are more likely to contain at least one member with a long term illness or health condition. This is a pattern that also existed a decade ago, in 2013-14. Since then, we’ve seen an increase in the overall number and proportion of households reporting someone with a health condition – and also observed an even greater increase in levels of ill-health and disability  among those living in poor quality accommodation.  

Households with at least one person with a long-standing physical or mental health condition will be referred to subsequently as ‘households with at least one person with a health condition’.

1. Household health over time

In 2023-24, there were 9.6 million households containing at least one person with a health condition. The proportion of households where at least one person had a health condition increased over the last decade from just under a third of households (32%) in 2013-14 to 35% of households in 2018-19 and then around four in ten households (39%) in 2023-24, Annex Table 1.

1.1 Household health conditions

Households who reported at least one member with a health condition were asked to specify their condition(s). The most common types of illnesses or disabilities in 2023-24 were mobility issues (56%), stamina issues (including breathing or fatigue problems) (45%) and mental health issues (38%), Annex Table 2.

There was a considerable increase in the proportion of households where at least one occupant reported suffering from mental health issues over the last 10 years. In 2013-14, fewer than two in ten (17%) households reported at least one occupant suffering from mental health issues, this increased to over a quarter (27%) of households in 2018-19 and was highest in 2023-24 with over a third (38%) of households reporting this condition. Similarly, the proportion of households where an occupant suffered from a learning, memory or social condition also increased from 2013-14 to 2023-24, Annex Table 2.

2. Housing quality indicators over time

2.1 Damp

In the English Housing Survey, a home is considered to have a problem with damp if the surveyor records damp which is significant enough to be taken into consideration when making a HHSRS risk assessment, with minor issues of damp not recorded. A dwelling is assessed as having a damp problem where any of the following exist: penetrating damp, rising damp, or extensive patches of mould growth on walls and ceilings and/or mildew on soft furnishings. The causes of condensation and dampness are complex and can be caused by household behaviour, density of occupation and dwelling factors such as poor ventilation, lack of insulation and disrepair to window openings. All these dwelling factors may vary in prevalence by the age and type of home.

The proportion of households with damp present in the home was higher in 2023-24 than in 2013-14 and 2018-19. The proportion of households living with damp decreased slightly between 2013-14 and 2018-19 (4% to 3%, respectively), before rising to 5% in 2023-24, Annex Table 3.

The rise in damp could reflect a number of factors. The COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on a household’s ability to treat damp issues as maintenance work could not proceed under social distancing measures. Another factor could be the rise in energy costs over this time period, which could have made it more difficult for households to effectively heat their homes.

2.2 Ability to keep warm

Households were asked whether they could normally keep comfortably warm in their living room during the cold winter weather. Compared to 2013-14, fewer households had trouble keeping warm in 2018-19 (a decrease from 12% to 9%). However, more households reported trouble keeping warm between 2018-19 and 2023-24 (from 9% to 13%) likely reflecting the impact of increases in the cost of living, Annex Table 3.  In Chapter 3 of the 2022-23 Energy report it was found that just under half (45%) of households unable to keep warm reported that it cost too much to keep the heating on.

2.3 Category 1 hazards

The HHSRS is a risk-based assessment that identifies hazards in dwellings and evaluates their potential effects on the health and safety of occupants and their visitors, particularly vulnerable people. The most serious hazards are called Category 1 hazards and, where these exist in a home, it fails to meet the statutory minimum standard for housing in England.

The proportion of households living in homes with Category 1 hazards has gradually decreased over the last decade from 12% in 2013-14, falling to 10% in 2018-19 and 8% in 2023-24, Annex Table 3.

2.4 Overcrowding

Households are said to be overcrowded if they have fewer bedrooms available than the notional number needed according to the bedroom standard definition. The proportion of households living in overcrowded homes remained stable over the past ten years at 3%, Annex Table 4.

3. Housing quality indicators and household health over time

Over the past decade, among those living in damp, cold and homes with Category 1 hazards present there was an increase in the proportion of households with at least one occupant with a health condition. These increases likely reflect, in part, the general increase in ill health over the past decade, as there was also an increase in the proportions of households with at least one person with a health condition among those living in good quality homes. However, the proportion of households with a health condition increased at a faster rate between 2013-14 and 2023-24 for those in poor quality homes.

Among those living in damp homes, the proportion with an occupant suffering from a health condition increased from around a third (33%) in 2013-14 to just under half (47%) in 2023-24. For those in non-damp homes the increase was less pronounced, rising from 32% in 2013-14 to 39% in 2023-24, Annex Table 5.

A similar trend was also seen for households unable to keep warm, where the proportion of households with at least one occupant with a health condition increased from around four in ten households (39%) in 2013-14 to over half (52%) in 2023-24. For those households able to keep warm, around 31% had an occupant with a health condition in 2013-14 rising to 37% in 2023-24.

There was an increase in the proportion of households, where at least one occupant had a health condition, among those living in damp and cold homes over the last ten years.

The proportion of households in homes with a Category 1 hazard with at least one  occupant with a health condition rose from 30% to 41% between 2013-14 and 2023-24. There was a similar rise among those in homes without a Category 1 hazard, rising from 32% to 39%.

For overcrowded homes, the proportion of overcrowded households with at least one occupant having a health condition increased from over a third in 2013-14 (34%) to over half in 2023-24 (55%). A less pronounced increase was seen for non-overcrowded homes where the proportion of households with health conditions increased by around seven percentage points from 31% in 2013-14 to 38% in 2023-24, Annex Table 6.

Over the last decade, more households with at least one occupant with a health condition lived in overcrowded homes and those with Category 1 hazards.

4. Household health by housing quality indicators and tenure

4.1 Damp

In 2023-24, around 1.3 million households were living in damp homes and, of those, over 600,000 had at least one member with a health condition. The proportion of households where at least one occupant had a health condition varied across tenures. Households in housing association and local authority homes were more likely to have an occupant with a health condition (62% and 61%, respectively) compared with those in private rented and owner-occupied homes (both 35%), Annex Table 7.

There were also differences in the proportion of homes with damp that had a member with a health condition. Housing association (69%), local authority (66%), and private rented (49%) homes were all higher compared with owner-occupied homes (35%). However, these differences largely reflect the overall variation in illness levels across tenures and less likely driven by the presence of damp.

Generally, owner-occupied households were least likely to have a member with a health condition in both damp and non-damp homes.

When we compare homes with damp to those without damp, the private rented sector was the only tenure that had a statistically significant difference in the proportion of households with a health condition. Just under half of all damp private rented homes contained at least one member with a health condition (49%) compared with around a third of homes without damp (34%).

4.2 Ability to keep warm during winter

Around 3.2 million households in 2023-24 were unable to keep warm during winter, of those, 1.6 million or just over half (52%) had at least one member with a health condition. The proportion of households with a health condition was lower among those who reported being able to keep warm (37%), Annex Table 8.

Similar to households with damp, among those in cold homes the highest proportions of households where at least one individual had a health condition were seen among housing association (71%) and local authority (69%) renters, followed by private renters (48%) and owner occupiers (41%).

Again, similarly to the findings for damp, among private renters living in cold homes there was a higher proportion of households with a member with a health condition (48%) compared with those living in warm homes (32%). This was also witnessed across all other tenures.

Households living in cold homes in the social rented sector were more likely to contain a member with a health condition compared with households in the private sector.

4.3 Category 1 hazards

In 2023-24, around 1.9 million households were living in homes with Category 1 hazards present. More than 760,000 of those homes had at least one occupant with a health condition, Annex Table 9.

Mirroring the findings for damp and cold, there was a higher proportion of households where an occupant had a health condition living in local authority and housing association homes with a Category 1 hazard (66% and 64%, respectively) compared with similar private rented and owner-occupied homes (43% and 37%, respectively).

Social rented homes with Category 1 hazards had a higher proportion of households with a member with a health condition compared with similar private sector homes.

4.4. Overcrowding

In 2023-24, over 800,000 households were overcrowded and over half of those households (449,000) had at least one person with a health condition. The proportion of households containing an occupant with a health condition was higher among those living in overcrowded homes (55%) compared with those not in overcrowded homes (38%), Annex Table 10.

Among private renters, overcrowded households were more likely to contain an occupant who had a health condition (56%) compared with those not living in an overcrowded home (34%).

Private renters in overcrowded homes were more likely to have a health condition than those not in overcrowded homes

5. Household health and income

Households that had at least one member with a health condition were more likely to be on lower incomes. In 2023-24, around 4.2 million households were in the lowest income quintile (first) and of those households, around half had at least one member with a health condition (49%). In contrast, there were around 5.4 million households in the highest income quintile (fifth) and just over a quarter of those had an occupant with a health condition (27%), Annex Table 11.

5.1 Damp

Among households living in homes with damp problems, there was a higher proportion of households with at least one occupant with a health condition in the lowest income quintile (54%) compared with the highest (23%). The same relationship was seen in households without damp issues where those in the lowest income quintile had a higher proportion of occupants with a health condition (49%) compared with the highest incomes (27%).

5.2 Ability to keep warm during winter

Similar to damp, there was a higher prevalence of households with at least one member with a health condition among those in cold homes in the lowest (first) income quintile (60%) compared with similar households in the highest (fifth) income quintile (27%), Annex Table 12.

Interestingly, the association between cold homes and poor health was strongest when comparing households from similar low-income groups. Among those in the lowest income quintile (first), cold homes were more likely to contain a household member with a health condition (60%) than warm homes (46%).

The proportion of households containing a member with a health condition decreased as income levels increased for those living in both damp and cold homes.

6. Health of dependent children

In 2023-24, there were 6.6 million households containing at least one dependent child. Around two in ten (20%) or over 1.3 million of these households had at least one child with a health condition. There was a higher prevalence of households in the social rented sector (34%) where at least one child had a health condition, compared with the private sector (17% across both the private rented sector and owner occupation), Annex Table 14.

Figures for dependent children include all children in the home, including foster children or the children of any lodgers, aged 16 or younger or aged 18 or younger and in full time education. Any questions relating to the health conditions of dependent children were asked to the parent/guardian of the dependent child and/or the HRP (household reference person).

It should be noted that the figures reported here are not mutually exclusive; a child may reside in both a damp and cold home and may also present with multiple health conditions concurrently.

6.1 Damp

There were around 534,000 households with dependent children who were living in damp homes. Of those, 122,000 had a child with a health condition. There was a higher proportion of children with a health condition living in damp social sector housing (42%) compared with damp private sector homes (18%).

The proportion of damp households containing a dependent child with a health condition was higher in the social sector than the private sector.

6.2 Ability to keep warm during winter

Around 1.1 million households with dependent children said they were not able to keep warm during the winter months. Of those, 352,000 households had a child with a health condition. There was a higher proportion of households containing dependent children with a health condition among those in cold homes (32%) compared with warm homes (18%), this was seen in both social and private sectors, Annex Table 15.

Cold homes in the social sector were more likely to contain dependent children with a health condition compared to cold homes in the private sector.

Focusing on households who could not keep warm during winter, there was a higher proportion of households with at least one child suffering with a health condition among those living in the social rented sector (39%) compared with the private sector (28%), following the overall trend of health conditions for children by tenure.

6.3 Category 1 hazards

In 2023-24 there were around 578,000 households with dependent children living in homes that failed to meet the statutory minimum standard for housing in England. Of those, over one in five (22%) or 126,000 households had at least one child with a health condition. There was a higher proportion of households that had at least one child with a health condition among social rented homes with a Category 1 hazard (38%) compared with similar households in the private sector (19%). This is likely driven by the higher number of children with health conditions in the social sector, Annex Table 16.

7. Health conditions of dependent children by housing quality indicators

The most common health conditions affecting dependent children in 2023-24 were problems socialising (572,000 households containing at least one child with this condition), learning problems (450,000), mental health issues (401,0000) and stamina (including breathing or fatigue) problems (303,000), Annex Table 17.

Around 14% or 54,000 households with at least one dependent child suffering from mental health issues lived in a damp home. Similarly, 37% or 143,000 households with children suffering from mental health issues were unable to keep warm in winter and 12% or 46,000 lived in homes with at least one Category 1 hazard present. Households with a child suffering from mental health issues were more likely to live in a damp (14%) or cold home (37%) compared with households with children who had a health condition but did not suffer from any mental health problems (7% and 23%, respectively). This was also true for households with children who suffered from memory or social problems.

Around 1.3 million households had a child with a health condition.

As for households with at least one child suffering from stamina, breathing or fatigue problems, around 8% or 25,000 lived in damp homes, three in ten (29%) or 88,000 were unable to keep warm during winter and less than one in ten or 28,000 lived in homes with Category 1 hazards (9%).