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Hertfordshire County Council

 

 


Healthy homes for healthier lives

Our priorities are to create:

  • shelters that support a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
  • homes that give people a sense of belonging, security, and privacy.
  • strong and safe structures.
  • communities that encourage social interactions and support health and wellbeing.
  • homes near services, green spaces, and public transport
  • places to live that are protected from waste, pollution, and natural or man-made disasters.

Who is at risk in an unhealthy home?

Unhealthy homes raise health risks for individuals who…

  • have pre-existing health conditions like allergies, asthma, cystic fibrosis, other lung diseases, and cardiovascular disease are at risk of their conditions worsening and are more likely to develop fungal infections or additional allergies.
  • have weakened immune systems including those with cancer, those receiving chemotherapy, transplant patients, and individuals on medications that weaken their immune system.
  • have mental health conditions.
  • are pregnant or have recently given birth - due to having a weakened immune system.
  • are bedbound, housebound or have mobility problems - making it more difficult for them to get out of a home and into fresh air

Other groups at risk - read more >

Unhealthy homes also affect other groups
GroupUnhealthy homes increase the risk of...Overcrowded or unsuitable homes increase the risk of...Precarious housing increases the risk of...
Children and young people  

• respiratory problems

• poor infant weight gain

• poor diet

• emotional and mental health problems

• physical injury and poisoning

• domestic fires.

• behavioural and mental health problems

• meningitis

• respiratory illness

• tuberculosis

• physical injury

• tobacco harm.

• emotional, behavioural and mental health problems

• low birth weight

• missing immunisations.

 
Older people  

• respiratory illness

• cardiovascular problems

• excess winter deaths

• physical injuries, particularly from falls

• domestic fires.

  

• physical injuries, particularly from falls

• general health deterioration following a fall

• social isolation.

  

• physical and mental health problems

• alcohol and drug misuse

• suicide

• tobacco harm

• tuberculosis.

 
People of working age

• respiratory illness

• cardiovascular problems

• mental health problems.

• mental health problems

• respiratory illness

• tuberculosis

• tobacco harm.

 

• physical and mental health problems

• alcohol and drug misuse

• suicide

• tobacco harm

• tuberculosis.

Why healthy homes matter

  • Living in poor-quality housing (for example, one that is damp, cold or overcrowded) can have a serious impact on physical and mental health.
  • Health problems caused by poor-quality housing costs the NHS approximately £2.5 billion per year.

 

The causes of poor-quality housing
Houses vary in age, design and building materials, and each home comes with its own set of problems. One common issue is damp and mould, which makes homes unhealthy to live in. Typically, this is caused by:

  • Heating systems that are inefficient, ineffective, or costly to run
  • Poor ventilation
  • Inability to use ventilation e.g., open windows due to worries about safety, noise or poor air quality
  • Lack of understanding around how to most efficiently use ventilation e.g., ensuring extractor fans are turned on and doors closed to a steamy room until moisture has been removed.
  • Lack of proper damp-proofing
  • Poor home maintenance
  • Overcrowded living conditions.

 

Other causes include:

  • Socioeconomic status
  • High cost of living
  • Overheating the home
  • Lack of appropriate clothes drying facilities
  • Lack of awareness and knowledge.

 

What we're doing to create healthier homes

Our Public Health teams have developed a ‘Healthy Homes Programme’ to improve living conditions, reduce health inequalities and promote better health across the county.

We’re focusing on two main areas:

  1. Improving housing quality, especially dealing with damp and mould
  2. Decrease fuel poverty.

Services that can help if your home is affecting your health

  • HertsHelp - speak to advisors for free, confidential advice on local services and support.
  • Citizens Advice Hertfordshire - offers a range of advice services, including information on housing conditions like damp and infestations. 
  • National Energy Foundation - get independent expert advice to improve your home’s energy efficiency, save money, and enhance comfort.
  • Shelter - information on what action to take if your rented accommodation, social housing or housing association has damp or mould.
  • GOV.UK - get tailored information on how to get something fixed by your landlord or letting agent, and what to do next if they’re not responding to your requests.

 

You might also find our other webpages helpful:

 

Contact your local support team
Get in touch with your local council’s Environmental Health or Housing team if your home is damp, mouldy, overcrowded, or has safety issues such as faulty wiring.

Find your local housing service

Find housing services on your district or borough council's website.

When a full postcode has been entered, addresses are available for selection using up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

See all districts and boroughs

 

 

 


Active travel and transport

Our Local Transport Plan 2018-2031 shows how transport can create a positive future for Hertfordshire by supporting economic growth, meeting housing needs, improving public health, and reducing environmental damage, while ensuring safe and efficient travel.

We work with the Transport Directorate to improve health and wellbeing by promoting active travel, improving air quality, reducing carbon emissions, and addressing health inequalities.

Why active travel and transport matters

Transport is important for our health. It connects communities, reduces isolation, and helps us get to work and school, which is good for our wellbeing. It also helps tackle big health issues like poor air quality, inactivity, and obesity.

Active travel, like walking or cycling, can help adults get the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week. Adding walking or cycling to daily routines is a sustainable way to stay active, but we need measures to support this change.

What we're doing to improve

  • Healthy Streets approach - this helps to improve air quality, encourge walking and cycling, ensure safety, provide public spaces, add urban greenery, reduce noise, and make streets accessible for everyone.
  • Training officers and elected members to adopt the Healthy Streets approach
  • Integrating health and wellbeing into transport documents and policies.
  • Funding the Active and Safer Travel team to work on related projects.
  • Working with various partners to support sustainable and healthy transport initiatives.

 

 


Healthy food environments

Our Whole Systems Obesity team aims to help build a healthy future for Hertfordshire residents, where local environments will make the healthy choice the easy choice, and support everyone to be well, eat well, and be active. 

You can learn more about healthy weight in Hertfordshire through the: 

 

Why healthy food environments matter

The food environment around us influences what we eat. When healthy options are easy to access and affordable, people are more likely to make nutritious choices. This is especially important in tackling obesity and diet-related health issues, which can lead to long-term conditions like diabetes and heart disease. Creating healthier food environments supports everyone in making better choices for their wellbeing.

What we're doing to create healthier food environments

  • We encourage restaurants, cafes and takeaways in Hertfordshire to offer healthier options and support the environment through the Herts Responsible Food Award (HRFA). 
  • We collaborate with local council planning teams to create healthier environments for residents. This includes suggesting policies to help people make healthier food choices, like limiting the number of fast food outlets near schools.
  • We collaborate with different health organisations and stakeholders to promote Healthy weight across Hertfordshire.

 

Get in touch - you can email us with a general enquiry at WholeSystemsObesity@hertfordshire.gov.uk

 

 


Air quality

Our ambition is to achieve cleaner air for everyone by 2030 - the way we aim to do this is outlined in our:

 

Our priorities are:

  • Enable behaviour change in our population to promote cleaner air, and reduce population exposure to pollution 
  • Promote and create Healthy Places through all we do 
  • Prioritise locations for healthy highways interventions 
  • Reduce pollution by schools with an anti-idling focus 
  • Reduce air pollution from county council related work travel 
  • Increase patronage of and reduce emissions from public transport 
  • Inform master planning and site promotion.

Why air quality matters

[FAQ itAir pollution is one of the biggest health risks facing everyone in the UK. Air pollution can cause several different health conditions including respiratory infections, heart disease and lung cancer which can lead to people dying at a younger age. There is no safe level of exposure to air pollution – both long-term exposure (over years) and short-term exposure (over hours) to low levels of air pollution can still impact on our health. em content]

What we're doing to improve air quality

  • Schools ventilation project supplying HEPA purifiers for classrooms helping over 16,000 pupils to breathe cleaner air 
  • Reviewing the Air Quality Strategy in partnership with all district and borough councils in Hertfordshire 
  • Supporting schools to reduce vehicle idling through providing a toolkit and loaning handheld air quality sensors and no idling banners.  
  • Collaborating with Planning, Transport and Development Management colleagues to ensure that potential air quality issues associated with new development proposals are flagged and managed in the early stages. 

 

 

Get in touch - you can email us with a general enquiry at Cleaner.Air@hertfordshire.gov.uk

 

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