Around 10 million people in England currently live in a home that presents a serious threat to their health and safety – defined by the government as ‘non-decent’ homes. About 1.8 million adults are living in damp and/or cold housing. Of these, more than one in ten people are living with health conditions potentially caused or exacerbated by poor housing, causing them to be ‘at risk’ of COVID-19.
The Good Home Inquiry, launched in July 2020, will run until mid-2021 in order to establish why so many of England’s homes are in poor condition, as well as exploring what we need in a good home. The Inquiry aims to achieve this by:
- Reviewing past and present government policies to determine the causes of the deficit in affordable, accessible and ‘decent’ homes
- Consulting with a wide range of experts and housing sector stakeholders
- Researching the lived experiences of people living in poor quality homes
- Reviewing the existing evidence on the relationship between health and housing, and what this means in the context of COVID-19
- Creating evidence-based recommendations for new and amended housing policies to make it easier to upgrade, maintain and improve our homes
The Good Home Inquiry is commissioned and supported by Ageing Better and independently chaired by David Orr CBE. He is joined by a panel of three leading experts – Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, Vidhya Alakeson, and Pat Ritchie CBE – bringing a diverse range of experience and expertise to the Inquiry.
The Inquiry supports the Centre for Ageing Better’s goal of reducing the number of homes as ‘non-decent’ by at least one million by 2030.
