Housing and health in Kent (What have we learned from the Kent and Medway health and lifestyle survey?)

The Regional Director of Public Health in his report says that access to affordable housing in the South east is more expensive both to buy and to rent; public sector rented housing is also expensive compared to the national picture, although Medway was the cheapest in the local authority in the South East in the first quarter of 2002 (Land Registry).

There is a large volume of evidence which links where you live to your health (Black Report, The Health divide, Townshend etc) but much there is less publicised around how how housing affects health. There are many factors which are inextrictably linked to the kind of housing people occupy, which also affects their health, for example income, employment. lifestyle. There is some evidence about home safety and health e.g. falls; many of the problems of poor safety and risk are commonly associated with sleeping rough and homelessness, and many homeless families are housed in temporary accommodation.