Cold and damp homes

A debate has been scheduled in Westminster Hall for Thursday 8 May at 1.30pm on cold and damp homes. The topic of the debate has been selected by the Backbench Business Committee. The debate was put forward by Alex Sobel MP (Labour Co-op).

Background

Housing quality has a significant and material impact on health and wellbeing.

Condensation and damp in homes can lead to mould growth, and inhaling mould spores can cause allergic type reactions, the development or worsening of asthma, respiratory infections, coughs, wheezing and shortness of breath.

Living in a cold home can worsen asthma and other respiratory illnesses and increase the risk of heart disease and cardiac events. It can also worsen musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis.

The Library’s briefing, Health inequalities: cold or damp homes (February 2023), provides information on the circumstances in which a home might be cold and damp, and the health implications of living in such homes. The briefing also considers cold or damp homes as an inequalities issue and explains the link between cold or damp homes and factors such as household income, receipt of welfare benefits and immigration status.

This briefing has been published to support the debate. It provides an update on matters related to cold or damp homes which have taken place since publication of the Library briefing, and links to other briefing material.

Institute of Health Equity report

Friends of the Earth is an environmental organisation working on sustainability. It commissioned the Institute of Health Equity, to publish a report, Left Out in the Cold; The Hidden Costs of Cold Homes (February 2024). The Institute of Health Equity is an organisation working to address health inequalities in the UK, and is led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot.

The report considered evidence and findings on the mental and physical health impacts of cold homes. It described an “imperfect storm of high fuel costs, high housing costs, inadequate incomes, and poorly insulated homes in the UK”. It found “9.6 million UK households were living in heat-leaking, poorly insulated homes and had incomes below the minimum required for an acceptable standard of living”.

The report said this was “causing harm to health, to children’s outcomes, and to the housing stock itself, leading to high costs for society and more winter pressure on the NHS which is struggling to cope with demand”.

The report put forward several recommendations to address cold or damp homes, including that:

• The government should commit at least £62.2 billion (England) to £74.5 billion (UK) to a 10-year retrofit programme targeted to those on low incomes in energy-inefficient housing.

• Local authorities and devolved administrations to utilise the powers they now have to socially prescribe insulation with adequate ventilation through the ECO4 Flex scheme (further information is available below) for those living in energy-inefficient homes with low incomes and with existing health conditions such as heart disease or asthma.

• Government and business leaders should do more to address poverty and ensure households can afford a healthy life, including through ensuring the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are sufficient, and by more equitable redistribution of profits within companies to reduce in-work poverty.

Statistics

Earlier statistics on cold or damp homes are available in sections 3 and 4 of the Library briefing Health inequalities: cold or damp homes (February 2023).

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has published statistics on housing quality and condition, from the English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023. It includes statistics on homes that have problems with damp.

Housing standards

Across the UK, private and social landlords have statutory duties to repair and maintain their rented properties. Where landlords breach these statutory duties, tenants can seek redress through several means. These include: contacting the local authority environmental health team, referring the matter to the housing ombudsman, and taking action through the courts.

The Library’s constituency casework page on Helping tenants with damp and mould in their homes (England) explains tenants’ rights when living with damp and mould in their homes. It also summarises government action to address this issue.

Section 7.2 of the Library briefing on Health inequalities: Cold or damp homes provides information on rented housing standards in the devolved administrations.

Building standards for new homes – an update Building regulations and guidance

Building regulations set out requirements for the energy efficiency, ventilation and moisture resistance of a new home when being constructed, or a new home when significantly altered.

Building regulations are devolved. The following information applies to England.

Any building work that is carried out in England has to adhere to the building regulations, under the Building Act 1984 and the Building Regulations 2010. To support the regulations, government publishes Approved Documents which provide guidance on ways to meet the regulations. The building regulations apply when building new homes and, in some cases, when making changes to existing homes (such as certain renovations). They apply only at the time when building work is taking place; standards for existing homes will therefore usually depend on when they were built. There is no requirement to retrofit homes to comply with new building regulations.

Relevant standards for damp and cold homes

Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2010 sets the requirements for building standards. Part C of Schedule 1 deals with moisture control, Part F sets standards for ventilation and air quality and Part L deals with the conservation of fuel and power.

Compliance with the standards

Since February 2023 the Building Safety Act 2022 has been introduced and established Building Safety Regulators (BSR) that are now operational within the Health and Safety Executive. BSR are responsible for ensuring building safety, especially of higher-risk buildings, and overseeing building control inspectors. Approval of works controlled by building regulations are carried out by building control inspectors, either from a local authority or a privately approved inspector.

Future Homes Standards

The Conservative Government consulted on the Future Homes Standards between December 2023 and March 2024. The proposed standards focus on energy efficiency and managing overheating in new homes and non-domestic buildings. Therefore, the changes relate to Building Regulations 2010 Schedule 1: Part L conservation of fuel and power and Part O overheating. The Future Homes Standards are expected to be introduced by government in 2025.

 In response to a PQ, the government stated on 3 December 2024 that:

“The Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024; a government response, including implementation plans, has not yet been issued. Government fully supports the need for low carbon homes and buildings, fit for a net zero future. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation and will publish the Government response in due course.”

Chapter 4 of the Library briefing on Housing and net zero (July 2024) explains recent efforts to decarbonise new homes and includes background information on the Future Homes Standards.

Energy Energy efficiency of UK homes

The Library briefing, Energy efficiency of UK homes (February 2025), analyses data on energy efficiency levels across the nations of the UK, variations by different types of properties and households, insulation measures and government funded/mandated energy efficiency schemes (see also next section).

The briefing explains that the average energy efficiency of UK homes has steadily improved over time, but the rate of improvement has slowed since 2014. The latest comparable data shows that homes in Northern Ireland had the highest average energy efficiency rating, followed by Scotland and England, with the lowest average rating in Wales.

Energy efficiency ratings are ratings that indicate how efficiently a building uses energy. The ratings are often displayed using a scale, from A to G, with A being the most energy-efficient and G the least. There has been faster progress on the percentage of homes with an energy efficiency rating of band C or higher. In England the share at this level increased from 12% in 2010 to 52% in 2022. The latest data shows a higher rate on this measure in Scotland and lower rates in Northern Irelands and Wales.

The government has a target (PDF) that all fuel-poor homes should have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC, a document that provides information about a building's energy efficiency and estimated energy costs) minimum of band C by 2030 and an aspiration for as many as possible homes across the country to be at least band C by 2035.

Heating and energy efficient schemes

The following schemes fund heating and insulation upgrades through energy suppliers, central and local government:

• The Energy Company Obligation (ECO). A government energy efficiency scheme in England, Scotland and Wales designed to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions, focused on supporting low-income households living in properties with low energy efficiency ratings (EPC rating D and below). ECO is an obligation, placed on energy suppliers to deliver measures such as insulation, certain types of heating, and solar panels.

• The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS). A government energy efficiency scheme in England, Scotland and Wales formerly known as ECO+. It is designed to complement the ECO and boost help for those on the lowest incomes, as well as extending support to a wider range of households living in the least energy efficient homes (EPC rating D and below) and in the lower Council Tax bands.

• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). This provides upfront grants of up to £7,500 to help with the cost of installing renewable heating systems in domestic properties and small non-domestic properties in England and Wales.

These and other schemes are more fully described in the Library briefing Help with energy efficiency, heating and renewable energy in homes (November 2024), the government’s Find energy grants for your home (Help to Heat) webpage, and the energy regulator Ofgem’s Environmental and social schemes. 

New Warm Homes Plan funding

In England, the government’s new Warm Homes Plan includes the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant through which social housing residents, lower income householders and renters will receive funded energy efficiency upgrades; including insulation and low-carbon heating.

The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund is funding for local authorities and social housing landlords to upgrade social housing stock currently below EPC band C up to that standard. It will support the installation of energy performance measures in social homes in England.  The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 has been allocated £1.29 billion as part of the Autumn Budget. Successful Social Housing Landlords will use the funding to install energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating.

The Warm Homes: Local Grant  will allocate £500 million to 73 projects across 270 local authorities over the next 3 years for homes in England.  A full list of successful local authorities can be found here: Warm Homes: Local Grant successful local authorities.   The government guidance Warm Homes: Local Grant – guidance for local authorities  sets out eligibility  and delivery details. In general, low-income households in homes in England with an EPC rating of D and below, may receive up to £15,000 for energy efficiency upgrades and low carbon heating. Households can check their eligibility and apply online.

Fuel poverty

For updates on fuel poverty see the Library briefing Fuel poverty in the UK (14 April 2025).