Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Blood pressureConditionsCardiacRespiratorySickness absence management

Poverty and poor housing fuelling UK long-term ill health

by Nic Paton 19 Dec 2022
by Nic Paton 19 Dec 2022 A library image of run-down rental housing in Bournemouth. The ONS has warned of the health implications of poverty and poor housing. Photo: Shutterstock
A library image of run-down rental housing in Bournemouth. The ONS has warned of the health implications of poverty and poor housing. Photo: Shutterstock

More than a million people living with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions in privately rented properties could be at greater risk of long-term ill health, including hospitalisation and even early death, because of the poor state of their accommodation, according to official figures.

The recent big freeze has raised concerns about the health implications for people living in poor housing where they have been unable to afford to put on the heating, so creating a further risk of mould, damp and other potential health risks.

It has been estimated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that, more than one in five of the UK population (22%) are in poverty, or 14.5 million people. Of these, more than half, 8.1 million, are working-age adults.

The parlous state of the UK’s housing sector has also been brought into sharp focus by the recent inquest into the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to the mould in his family’s housing association flat.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), out of the 10.8 million people living in private households who were estimated to be living in poverty, 1.3 million people had a cardiovascular or respiratory condition, representing 2.5% of the population living in private households.

Of these, 675,000 people had a cardiovascular condition and lived in poverty and 789,000 had a respiratory condition and lived in poverty, the ONS added.

Health, housing and poverty

FTSE 100 firms overlooking staff poverty

Part-time, low-paid and ethnic minority workers facing poverty

Around a fifth (20.4%) of people with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions lived in poverty, with the poverty rate highest in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (24.4%) and lowest in people who had atrial fibrillation (17.3%).

The proportion of people who had cardiovascular or respiratory conditions and were living in poverty was particularly high in coastal areas and in the north west, the ONS highlighted.

Looking at lower tier local authorities, the proportion was highest in Blackpool (4.6%), Liverpool (3.9%), South Tyne (3.8%) and Burnley (3.7%). It was lowest in Brentwood (1.5%), South Cambridgeshire (1.5%), Rushcliffe (1.6%) and Richmond upon Thames (1.6%).

The proportion of people who had cardiovascular or respiratory conditions and were living in poverty was higher in older age groups, in people living in more deprived areas (3.9% for the most deprived areas, 1.7% for the least deprived areas), and slightly higher in males (2.6%) than females (2.4%), the ONS added.

An analysis by Sky News, meanwhile, has argued that England could be storing up a “massive health problem” because of its ageing housing stock, and now being exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

It has cited figures from the Housing Ombudsman highlighting that, in the eight months to November, there were 30% more complaints and twice as many decisions following investigations into damp, mould and leaks in social housing as there had been in 2020-2021.

Last year was a record high, but if the current trend continues, this year was on track to surpass those numbers, it also argued.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

More than one in 10 private rentals have issues with damp and almost a quarter don’t meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard, according to data from the English Housing Survey 2021-2022, the report added.

It also highlighted that the National Audit Office has estimated that poor-quality housing in the private rented sector costs the NHS around £340m a year.

Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consultant editor at Personnel Today. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for Personnel Today and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

previous post
High levels of immigration will be ‘the norm’ in the UK
next post
KPMG research shows class the biggest barrier to progression

You may also like

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

Awareness weeks fuel spike in demand for mental...

19 May 2025

Healthcare workers prioritise mental health support in new...

12 May 2025

Tool developed for employers to calculate cost of...

28 Apr 2025

Why employers must do more to support all...

24 Apr 2025

NHS to expand GP scheme enabling greater access...

16 Apr 2025

Computer says no: IT woes giving employees sleepless...

15 Apr 2025

Access to Work backlogs and delays costing businesses...

14 Apr 2025

Nearly half did not take even one full...

14 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today