Many young people are suffering physically and mentally because of poor quality housing, according to poverty campaigners.
The Resolution Foundation says one in six 18-34 year-olds are affected, a total of 2.6 million people. Among 18-24 year-olds the figure is even higher at 26%.
The foundation says policy makers must provide more new affordable housing and improve the quality of existing housing stock.
Its report uses data from a new YouGov survey of 10,122 adults to examine how people are coping with housing payments during the cost-of-living crisis, the extent of poor quality housing across the UK, and its impact on peoples’ health.
It says poor quality housing is concentrated among young people, low-income families and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.
People from Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds are the most likely to report living in poor quality housing (36%), followed by Black families (26%).
Resolution Foundation economist Lalitha Try said: ‘High housing costs are causing many renters in particular to fall behind on housing payments, while poor quality housing is leaving millions of people having to deal with damp and malfunctioning heating, plumbing and electrics.
‘High costs and poor housing quality can make life miserable for people and can damage both their personal finances and their wider health.
‘It is critical that policymakers tackle both of these crises by building new affordable housing, and improving the quality of the housing stock we already have.’
