Building Our Future – Laying the Foundations for Healthy Homes and Buildings

Building Our Future – Laying the Foundations for Healthy Homes and Buildings; a White Paper by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Healthy Homes and Buildings

In October 2018 the All Party Parliamentary Group for Healthy Homes and Buildings (APPG) produced a White Paper looking at the rising issue of unhealthy homes in the UK.

Titled; Building Our Future – Laying the Foundations for Healthy Homes and Buildings the paper looks in detail how living in ‘unhealthy’ homes is costing the NHS billions of pounds every year.

An ‘unhealthy’ home is one which is affected by one or more of the following; noise pollution, damp, overheating, inefficient lighting, poor indoor air-quality or lack of space are amongst the main problem areas.

Several key contributors such as BRE, The Passivhaus Trust and The Good Homes Alliance cited overheating as a key area of concern. A proven solution for overheating in our homes is to install solar shading such as blinds or shutters.

Living in conditions such as these can cause a wide range of health issues; allergies, asthma, dementia, mental health problems and poor sleep health are just a few from a long list of ailments which can be directly linked to housing conditions.

The Government have made three recommendations about how to tackle unhealthy homes in this White Paper.

1. A Government department specifically responsible for healthy homes needs to be created.
2. More research is needed. Research will be focused on housing and schools to build a clear case to promote further Government action.
3. Renovation of current housing stock needs to be made a Government priority and retrofitting needs to take a holistic approach that takes into account health and wellbeing.

The BBSA supports these recommendations.

View the study here:
https://shadeit.wpengine.com/resource/solar-shading-reduces-overheating/

Read the full paper here:
https://healthyhomesbuildings.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/HHB-APPG-White-Paper-V1.pdf