Housing and climate: UK homes need urgent adaptation to protect our health

The climate emergency is already affecting our homes,1 and it will drive a range of key health risks in the coming decades.2 Many of these are closely connected to our housing system, including overheating and increased flood risks.This situation is further exacerbated in the UK by its wider housing crisis, with high levels of unaffordability—particularly in the private rental sector—as well as low tenure security, rising rates of homelessness and use of temporary accommodation, and an ageing and poor quality housing stock.3 UK homes are among the least energy efficient in Europe,4 and the UK’s Climate Change Committee has raised substantial concerns regarding our climate readiness.5 Taken together, this will have increasing effects on health and social care services over time, particularly among older people and those with underlying illnesses.6 An estimated 2000 heat related deaths a year now occur in the UK, which could more than triple by the…
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