Living in unhealthy places

The lived experience

These short films share experiences of living in UK urban environments that pose a risk to health. We chose the issues covered according to evidence and data from our HAUS model – overcrowding, lack of green space, traffic noise, air pollution, damp and mould.

The films are being used in our changing mindsets and national government interventions for informed discussions with the public sector, industry and other stakeholders.

Watch as four families share where they live and its impact on their health conditions with us and explain the small and large changes that could be made to improve their physical and mental health.

The films were produced by Drummer TV and commissioned by our public engagement team at the University of the West of England.

“I fell asleep in school”

Samuel and his two sons in a 15th floor cramped one-bedroom flat

“I feel stressed in this house”

Kadra and Wendy raising their children and managing their lives in damp homes

“When he moves back home, the cough develops again and it’s grown and grown”

Shakar and his family living with noise and air pollution

The data and evidence

The health data in the films was sourced from our HAUS economic valuation tool and other sources.
Here are some more detailed facts and figures we’ve uncovered for the issues raised in the films:

Overcrowding

Health risks from overcrowding include intestinal and respiratory infection, and mental ill-health from sleep disturbance.
In England, approximately 708,000 households are living in overcrowded conditions.
The saving to the NHS of solving overcrowding in England could be £5 million every year, with a wider societal benefit of £80 million, due to less absence from work, increased productivity, and lower costs to social services and education providers.

Lack of green space / place to play

Good quality parks and green spaces can help reduce risk of depression, diabetes and weight gain.
Around 6 million people in the UK do not have access to a park or green space within a 10 minute walk.
Providing a new park for a neighbourhood of 1,000 people could provide health savings of at least £9 million over 25 years.

Damp and mould

Damp and mould in the home has been associated with 3.5 times the normal risk of asthma in children, and increased risk of respiratory conditions and asthma attacks in adults.
Long term, persistent exposure can damage mental health.
In 2018, 75,000 homes in England were found to have damp problems so serious that they constituted an immediate risk to health and safety.
Solving serious damp in just one small neighbourhood of 1,000 people could save £7.68 million over 25 years in reduced cases of asthma in children and £2.2 million in reduced respiratory diseases for adults.

road at night with bus stop and queued traffic

Traffic noise

The World Health Organisation has found that noise could be the second largest environmental risk to health after air pollution.
Long term traffic noise disrupts sleep for adults and children and causes stress to our bodies, leading to long term chronic illnesses, poor mental health and earlier death.
Around 40% of adults in England are exposed to traffic noise levels over 50dB (beyond which causes stress).
Sleep disorders cost each sufferer on average £1,163 per year just in lost wages.
By reducing noise for one small neighbourhood of 1000 people the savings to society of all related health problems could be £9 million over 25 years.

Air quality

Air pollution affects people of every age, increasing risk of respiratory disease, cancers, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and Parkinson’s Disease.
Air pollution in the UK causes between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year.
The value to society of preventing all early deaths related to air pollution in the UK could be £70-90 billion per year.