Experts warn of health epidemic sparked by Britain's housing crisis
Kyra, 46, had been trying for months to get her landlord to deal with the mould in her Tottenham flat. Living with her 16-year-old daughter and struggling with her own health, the London-born mother is worried about the physical and mental effect her housing issues are having on them.
'I'm always sick,' she says, 'I'm always sick in the house. I'm always sick.
'My blood pressure is rising, my anxiety ... I went to my GP thinking maybe it's the mould – I'm having a constant cough that's not going away.
'Every minute I'm at the doctor, my house is full of medications.'
Health inspectors from the council have visited the property every month, and have asked Kyra's landlord to resolve the issue. But last month she says one told her that the council 'can't force him' to do anything. However, the council says that her landlord has made 'several important improvements' following their intervention.
Not long after, Kyra received a section 21 'no-fault' eviction notice telling her she had to leave the flat she's lived in for four years. She's now looking for a new place to call home as her daughter tries to study for her upcoming GCSE exams.
'I don't want this to affect her because she has been working so hard and studying and extra classes,' says Kyra, 'I'm just so worried.'
And she is far from alone in her challenging experience of being a private renter. A new first-of-its-kind survey of thousands of health workers has revealed that most believe housing issues are worsening health conditions in the UK.
Conducted by health justice charity Medact, the survey of over 2,000 health workers including nurses and doctors found that two-thirds believe that making rent more affordable would reduce the strain on NHS.
A similar proportion say that they regularly see children with health problems likely caused or worsened by insecure housing, while seven in ten have seen patients' mental health conditions caused or worsened by their housing problems.
The shocking results come as part of Medact's 'Home Sick Home' report, which makes several recommendations to the government to break the link between housing issues and poor health. These include building good-quality social housing and introducing rent controls.
Dr Amaran Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy is a Medact member and children's doctor. He deals with children's health problems on a daily basis, telling The Independent that the issues he's seeing are 'increasingly to do with the the homes in which they're living.'
The pediatrician points to the tragic death of two-year old Awab Ishak in 2020, whose respiratory condition was caused by the mouldy conditions of the flat he was living in.
The toddler's death sparked a review of landlord guidance and ultimately 'Awaab's Law' in 2023, which will require social landlords to fix dangerous damp and mould issues within a set time from October this year. In February, Labour pledged to widen the law as part of its landmark Renters' Rights Bill, extending it to private landlords.
But damp and mould issues are 'just tip of the iceberg,' says Dr Amaran, adding that another key issue is 'how housing has become so unaffordable to people.
'And the extent to which, how much of the monthly income is going to rent means there's nothing left over for all the material needs that allow for a healthy childhood and for a healthy adolescence.
'So that means that children won't have money left for things like, particularly at the moment, energy bills, but also essentials like the school uniform, sports equipment, the opportunity to participate in social clubs, sports clubs, and so on.'
Dr Abi O'Connor, researcher at the New Economics Foundation, said 'Private landlords have been allowed to increase rents to eye-watering levels and now we're seeing the consequences – it's making people and our economy sicker. If the government are interested in improving the economy for ordinary people, it is clear they must address the plague of unaffordable rents.
'In the short term they should introduce rent controls to give people stability, and in the long term they will need to build more social housing which is the only way to provide people with safe, affordable homes."
Responding to Kyra's housing situation, Cllr Sarah Williams, Haringey Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning said: 'Our priority is to continue to raise standards in privately rented homes in the borough and make sure that tenants live in healthy, safe and well-managed homes.
'Following a report of poor standards, the landlord has undertaken several important improvements to the property in response to our intervention, including the installation of cavity wall insulation and added air vents to help remedy the damp and mould.
'We don't want to see any private renters evicted and our specialist team can provide additional support.'
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