"Measured by age, income and location, there are staggering inequalities in the cost to fix the UK’s leaky and draughty homes"
- Anna Moore - Domma
New analysis of the latest English Housing Survey has highlighted stark inequalities in the financial and health costs associated with poor-quality housing across England. Working-age households, low-income families, and residents in the North East are facing significantly higher burdens, with experts calling for urgent retrofit investment.
In the North East, the median cost to bring a substandard home up to a decent standard stands at £12,200, according to Table 4.1 of the survey. This compares to just £2,490 in Yorkshire and the Humber, underscoring the regional disparity in the cost of basic housing improvements.
Nationally, 3.5 million of the lowest-income households are collectively spending £2.8 billion more each year on energy due to inadequate housing. Table 4.3 of the survey shows that residents in non-decent homes face average energy bills of £2,177 per year, compared with £1,576 in homes that meet the decent homes standard—a difference of more than £600.
Young adults are also disproportionately affected. Table 5.2 shows that 6.7% of people aged 30 to 44 live in homes affected by damp, compared with only 3.3% of those aged 65 and over.
“The latest English Housing Survey reveals a national failure – and one that should provoke genuine outrage,” explained founder of retrofit consultancy Domna, Anna Moore. “Measured by age, income and location, there are staggering inequalities in the cost to fix the UK’s leaky and draughty homes. Homes are too cold in winter and too hot in summer – this is making people ill, wrecking children’s life chances, and putting huge pressure on the NHS.”
She added: “And yet the funding streams to fix this are fragmented, inaccessible, or missing entirely. We’re asking the people with the least to carry the greatest burden of government inaction.”
Moore pointed out that the necessary tools and solutions already exist. “The skills and materials to properly retrofit our homes are there, from insulation to air source heat pumps,” she said. “What we need is joined-up policy: proper incentives, accessible funding, and regulatory certainty to unlock the capital that’s already sitting on the sidelines.”
“Delivering decent, warm homes isn’t radical,” she continued. “Retrofit is the fastest route to lower bills, better health, energy resilience and economic growth. The tools are there – the question is why we aren’t putting the right incentives in place to finish the job.”
The findings suggest that without coordinated government action, the gap between those living in safe, efficient homes and those exposed to damp, cold and high bills will continue to grow. Analysts warn that the current trajectory will see vulnerable groups increasingly burdened by what has been described as an “invisible tax” created by outdated housing and fragmented funding policies.
