Impact of insecure housing on health

Around 370,000 children under 16 in London live in households that are considered overcrowded.



Poor and overcrowded housing has been shown to have a significant impact on the mental health of parents and children.



The London Assembly Health Committee has published its letter to the Mayor of London on the impact of poor housing on children’s health in the capital.



The recommendations include:

• The Mayor should lobby the Government to expand housing standards to include mental health and issue guidance to local authorities by April 2020.
• The Mayor should promote the inclusion of health impacts in local strategies and closer integration between housing and public health strategies.
• The Mayor should work with local authorities on raising awareness with enforcement teams of signs of poor health in families they come into contact with.
• The Mayor should encourage local authorities to expand landlord licensing schemes to more properties in the private rented sector.
• The Mayor should work with local authorities to develop a standardised template for GPs, so they can include relevant medical information for people when they make a housing application.
• He should also review the GLA’s pilot providing the Warmer Homes Advice Service to the private rented sector and share learnings from the pilot to support local efforts to support tenants.