Housing Standards

Housing should provide people with a comfortable home to live in that meets their basic physiological needs. Living in substandard conditions has a negative effect on mental and physical health, can cause injuries, or lead to avoidable deaths. It is important that homes are in good condition, and that they are warm and affordable. Low quality, cold, or overly hot housing can cause or exacerbate acute and chronic health issues, which can result in increased GP visits, hospital admissions, or a reliance on medication.

Poor housing standards impact many health inequalities:

• Falls: Roughly two thirds of falls in Lincolnshire occur at home.
• Respiratory conditions: Living in a cold, damp, and mouldy home is likely to promote conditions of asthma, and it can worsen many other respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
• Health Outcomes for Children and Young People (CYP): Housing in poor repair has been found to negatively impact socio-emotional development, promote psychological distress, increase behavioural problems, and result in lower educational attainment. Evidence indicates increased susceptibility to long term mental health issues amongst pre-schoolers living in substandard housing.
• Mental health: Evidence shows housing conditions positively correlate with psychological wellbeing and self-esteem. Poor housing can contribute to anxiety, poor mental wellbeing, a feeling of being unsafe, and feelings of dissatisfaction.
• Excess winter deaths and illness.
• Fuel poverty: Low-income households and the low energy efficiency ratings (EPC) of Lincolnshire housing leads to higher rates of fuel poverty than for England, and a greater fuel poverty gap. The largest proportion of Lincolnshire’s housing stock is owner-occupied, i.e., people own their home under the terms of a mortgage or own the property outright. Most have equity in their property. Low-income homeowners may not be financially capable of affording repairs, improvements, or redecoration. The private rented sector has grown to outnumber social housing, and demand is increasing. This may contribute to tenants accepting poor standard housing as they may be reluctant to complain for fear of retaliatory eviction. There is insufficient capacity in today’s social housing stock to meet increasing demands. However, with landlords required to meet the Decent Homes Standard, the social housing stock is generally in good condition. Based on ‘first year treatment costs’ only, poor housing in England costs the NHS £1.4 billion a year (Source: Building Research Establishment (BRE)).

Feeling uncomfortable and unsafe in your home can cause feelings of unhappiness and loneliness.

The Government addresses low quality housing through public health and housing acts and policies. This approach requires collaboration between housing, health, and care systems. The legislation secures improvements using powers of enforcement and by supplying assistance for low-income households. Improvement in housing standards results in gains for individual health outcomes.

• Principal legislation for housing standards: Housing Act 2004; and Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
• The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) Regulations 2016 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) established a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘E’ for privately rented property in England and Wales from April 2018.
• The Renters Rights Act 2025 has introduced new protections for renters and will extend the Decent Homes Standard to private rented homes.
• The Warm Homes Plan 2026 sets out the Government policies to improve the thermal comfort of homes, tackle fuel poverty, and deliver sustainable warmth.
• Reducing health risks associated with living in a cold home (including preventable deaths): NICE Guidance: Excess winter deaths and illness and the health risks associated with cold homes [NG6].
• The Care Act 2014 requires greater integration of health and social care services and references housing as a contributor to providing good care.
• The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced measures concerning rogue landlords, electrical safety, HMO licences, and changes to planning regulations.
• The Quick Guide: Health and Housing provides guidance to the NHS on the role of housing in improving the health system and patient outcomes.
• Housing is a priority of Lincolnshire’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. A Housing Health and Ageing Well Delivery Group (HHAWDG) will implement the Priority Delivery Plan.
• The HHAWDG published a Lincolnshire Homes for Independence blueprint, outlining how local partnerships will assist people with care and support needs to live independently.
• A Connected Society is the government’s (2018) Loneliness Strategy detailing how improved housing and considerate planning can strengthen social connections.

The BRE dwelling level housing stock condition databases for Lincolnshire districts, commissioned in 2025, provide information about the condition of existing private sector housing. Work is ongoing to develop an interactive dashboard(s) of housing conditions information, which could be overlaid with health-related conditions information to provide richer intelligence around housing and health and help target interventions where greatest impacts will be seen. The housing stock condition modelling will be followed by a health impact assessment of poor condition homes, and the cost to health, social care, and society.

Park-homes, caravans and houseboats are common types of home across Lincolnshire, especially on the east coast. Accurate statistics for these dwelling types are not available. However, estimates suggest two fifths of those whose home is a caravan, are, in effect, full time residents of East Lindsey. Not all these homes are intended for year-round occupation – relatively few are part of a standard improvement programme to replace units over time. Better regulation of this class of accommodation is confounded as the majority fall outside the remit of the Housing Act 2004.

The private rental market in Lincolnshire is relatively stable but there are distinct variations in condition and affordability across the county. Generally, the households that find it hardest to access housing are those on low incomes and those with health problems and/or disabilities resulting in those households living in properties of poor condition. Almost a fifth of private sector stock in the county is occupied by low-income families – with the highest proportion in Lincoln, and the lowest in North Kesteven.

District councils (DCs) are Lincolnshire’s housing and energy conservation authorities. DCs have statutory duties, strategic responsibilities and discretionary roles, that relate to housing advice, housing conditions and regulatory enforcement. However, collaboratively working with partner organisations, such as Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, is essential to be able to target homes in the worst condition, and to support the most vulnerable residents. 

Local authorities in England have legal powers to act against owners and owner-occupiers for properties in very poor condition. DCs in Lincolnshire work closely with owners and landlords to ensure properties are fit for occupation. Proactive work includes facilitating landlord forums, producing advisory newsletters to inform landlords of legislative changes, and promotion of available funding opportunities. Large houses in multiple occupation (HMO) are required to have a local housing authority licence. Some DCs operate a landlord accreditation scheme, in an attempt to encourage more responsible management of property. ‘Selective Licensing’ enables DCs to define specific geographical areas in which landlords for all private rented properties are required to apply for, and be granted, a licence to rent the property out. If landlords do not mitigate poor housing conditions, DCs can pursue a financial prosecution, or work can be done in default and the costs reclaimed. 

Some DCs across Lincolnshire are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) on its Healthy Homes Project, developing improved interventions to tackle damp and mould issues. DCs are also running the Warm Homes: Local Grant schemes in Lincolnshire.

HHAWDG continues implementing some recommendations of the Centre for Ageing Better (CFAB), Good Home Inquiry.  The Good Home Lincs hub has been developed in response to one of the CFAB recommendations in partnership with them, with a range of resources on Connect to Support Lincolnshire and a pilot caseworker and advice service. The pilot has recently incorporated hoarding support whilst evaluation of a pilot hoarding support service by the Lincolnshire Open Research and Innovation Centre (LORIC) is being considered, and a business case built. Good Home Lincs overall is being evaluated by the London School of Economics (LSE). 

A number of partnerships are working on the housing standards agenda in Lincolnshire; 

• Lincolnshire Housing Standards Group 
• Lincolnshire Healthy and Accessible Homes Group 
• Greater Lincolnshire Energy Efficiency Network. 

The Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism (MHLDA) Partnership Board inform us that people with LD do not always know their housing rights, what landlords should or should not be doing, or how to complain. It is possible that people living with a learning disability are enduring poor housing conditions. An inspection regime is in hand for properties housing LD service users. 

Withdrawal of private sector renewal funding in 2013 has resulted in less support for privately renting tenants or owner occupiers for improvement to their own home. DCs ability to fund works is limited. Several national schemes provide financial help for energy efficiency measures to low-income households struggling to heat their home. However, these schemes are independent of each other and are difficult to navigate. Schemes that do exist are not fast tracked to prevent imminent hospital admissions, neither do schemes facilitate hospital discharge. Targeted Government funded energy efficiency schemes, e.g. for central heating, tend to have a low take up, in part because residents (particularly those most in need) suspect scams and have been told to avoid cold calls. 

The BRE housing stock modelling was based on models using data from the English Housing Survey up to 2019. Options to update this are being explored with BRE.  

It is not possible to routinely quantify the risks associated with living in poor condition housing, particularly at a local level e.g., increases in hospital admissions or risks of respiratory illness. Closer working with NHS colleagues and increased analytical capacity seeks to understand needs, target specific cohorts and localities and test the effectiveness of both individual-agency, and partnership responses. 

Hoarding is often not considered a housing condition issue but certainly impacts on living standards. Data on prevalence is patchy and so is being improved by collecting as much intelligence on the topic as possible. The lack of a hoarding support service across the county is being highlighted as a gap. 

Park homes, static caravans and mobile homes are not housing, despite the number of people residing in these types of accommodation in Lincolnshire. Notwithstanding park homes, caravan dwellers on the East Lindsey coastal strip present a particular challenge in respect of illness or resilience during extreme weather events, with a knock-on impact to partner services, e.g., the NHS and potentially excess seasonal deaths. 

Housing support for people with mental health, learning disabilities and autism should be specifically identified in local housing strategies.

Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, along with other transient populations may have specific needs not currently quantified. 

The HHAWDG will continue to implement the Lincolnshire Homes for Independence blueprint to: 

• Improve the evidence base and develop a case for investment in housing as a preventative measure. 
• Help people to repair, maintain and improve their home. 

Overlaying modelled data of the condition and energy efficiency of the housing stock with health profiles and deprivation data will give insights to health impacts of poor condition housing, allowing effective targeting of schemes and advice. 

To address poor housing conditions in the private rented sector, and tackle rogue landlords and criminal landlords, we must: use powers of enforcement more effectively; deliver on measures in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and Renters Rights Act 2025; and increase capacity to enable a proactive approach to health and housing. 

All agencies should better consider the health needs of those residing in park homes or static caravans, including transient populations, Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, along with other groups with protected characteristics. 

To explore opportunities to include housing advice as part of a comprehensive advice and support offered by in-house practitioners, commissioned services and voluntary and community sector organisations.