I want to enjoy a healthier & more comfortable home

I want to enjoy a healthier and more comfortable home

If your home often feels cold, damp or difficult to heat, you’re not alone. Many homes struggle to heat rooms sufficiently, or lose heat quickly, making it hard to stay comfortable during the colder months. You may find yourself; turning the heating up more often, yet rooms still feel chilly, dealing with condensation and mould on walls and windows, or worrying about what you can afford to do to address the problems.

A warmer home is not just about comfort. It can also support better health and wellbeing. Improving insulation, heating systems and ventilation can help maintain steadier temperatures, reduce damp and create a healthier indoor environment, making your home feel warmer, drier and more comfortable throughout the year.

Facts and figures

• Cold and damp homes cost the NHS nearly £1 billion each year (source).
• In 2024, around 600,000 homes in England were much too cold, including nearly  500,000 owner-occupied homes (source).
• Children in damp homes are up to three times more likely to have breathing problems (source).
• In 2024, 1.4 million homes in England had damp problems, and damp and mould are linked to 5,000 new asthma cases and 8,500 chest infections each year (source).

Staying healthy

Staying healthy is not only about eating well, stopping smoking and being active. We usually spend a significant proportion of our lives at home, so your home also plays a big part in your health. A warm, dry home can help prevent illness and makes your living space more comfortable.

A warm, dry home is important for most people, but some are more at risk:

• Older adults (65 and over)
• People with long-term health conditions, especially breathing problems
• Pregnant women
• Babies and young children

Cold homes can make lung conditions like asthma worse and can also trigger new health problems. Cold air raises blood pressure and puts strain on the heart, increasing the risk of heart attacks. If heating costs are high, adding or increasing insulation, upgrading to a new, more efficient heating system, or producing your own power, such as Solar panels can help keep your home warm for less money. Here is more advice on keeping warm and well and staying well in winter.

Understanding and tackling damp at home

Many problems, like cold or damp can be improved with home improvements and simple changes. The Centre for Sustainable Energy provides further information on the causes of damp and mould, as well as how to treat and prevent them, which can be found here.

Damp can be broadly categorised in two ways.

1. Structural damp from leaks, or water ingress from the roof, gutters, windows, or failed damp proof course. This is likely to appear as a stain or bubbling of the plastered walls/ceiling where water is present.
2. Condensation-related damp produced from everyday activities like cooking, showers, baths, and laundry, which will often condense as water droplets on cooler surfaces like windows and the corners of external walls.

If the problem is structural or from a leak, professional assistance may need to be sought to fix the problem.

Damp homes and heating

A damp home can lead to mould, which often shows up as black, white or green patches on walls or other surfaces. Mould releases tiny particles into the air that can be breathed into the lungs. Children growing up in damp homes are around three times more likely to develop breathing problems, such as coughing, wheezing or asthma. It can also affect people with existing lung conditions, including those related to smoking, and may even cause health problems for adults who were previously healthy. As damp can have many different causes, you may wish to seek advice from a specialist or arrange a home survey so the right support can be put in place to address the cause of the damp

Some types of heating, such as bottled gas heaters and coal or wood‑burning stoves, can also affect your health. They release chemicals and very small particles into the air that can irritate the lungs and make breathing problems worse. Burning wood and coal indoors is linked to around 2,500 deaths each year in the UK. Switching to cleaner heating options, such as air‑source heat pumps, can help improve indoor air quality and support better health.