Our home influences almost every aspect of our lives – from how well we sleep, to how safe and secure we feel. If we want to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities, there can hardly be a more important place to start than the home; it is where most people spend most of their life (1). Many people are unaware of how their internal home environment can have significant impacts on their health and wellbeing. Factors ranging from the quality of the internal air, to how much space and light there is, even how much storage space is available, can have measurable impacts on health and wellbeing (1). In this short article we investigate how improving these environmental factors can have important health and wellbeing benefits for homeowners and occupiers. 

A body of work has been carried out on establishing the links between poor housing and ill health, and increasingly on the links between sustainable, well-designed homes and better health and wellbeing in residents (1). In the UK the costs of poor housing have been estimated to be as high as £2.5 billion per year to the NHS in terms of primary care services, treatment, hospital stays and outpatient visits for issues resulting from inadequate housing, such as respiratory and circulatory diseases (1, 2). The design and quality of a home is a key contributor to the health and wellbeing of the people who live there. Construction and property professionals have an opportunity to dramatically enhance the lives of the people they design and build for through careful consideration of factors such as Read more