New Study: Europe’s suburbs key to tackling ill-health caused by aging, deficient buildings

The Healthy Homes Barometer 2018 is the 4^th edition of this pan-European study, which takes the pulse of Europe’s buildings and examines the effects of housing on inhabitants’ health. This year’s report sheds light on some stark realities, especially in Europe’s rapidly-growing suburban areas:

• Europe’s suburbs have grown 54% more than urban areas over recent decades, and are made up of 62% single-family homes
• Single-family homes are up to 33% more likely to result in residents reporting ill-health than multi-family homes
• Investing in healthy office buildings should be a no-brainer for companies.

Suburbanisation and the (un)healthy home
Urbanisation is a familiar topic to many, but in Europe as a whole, it is actually suburban areas which are growing fastest, outpacing urban growth by 54% between 1961 and 2011 (when the last 10-year dataset is available). A house in the suburbs is still the dream for many Europeans, who move out of cities looking for more space, lower costs and better quality of life. Single-family homes dominate the suburban landscape, comprising 62% of dwellings in these areas. Yet many of them are old and deficient, and they are significantly more likely to cause poor health. For example, occupants of single-family homes with overheating issues are 33% more likely to report poor health than those in multi-family homes with the same problem.

Renovation: a sound investment for society
The report shows that money exists in the system to catalyse the required levels of renovation, but goes on to detail the major – and often unnecessary – barriers that can deter homeowners from making this type of investment. The long-term benefits of renovation are also demonstrated. While the one-time cost of bringing housing up to standard across Europe is thought to be around €295 billion, inadequate housing is estimated to cost EU economies €194 billion every single year.

Healthy offices: a win-win
When not at home, many Europeans spend the majority of their time in an office. For the first time, this year’s edition of the Healthy Homes Barometer also looks at European office environments. With 90% of a business’ operating costs going on its employees, and better indoor environments leading to significant improvements in productivity and well-being, the report demonstrates why investing in office buildings should be a no-brainer for companies.

These are just a few of the findings in this year’s Healthy Homes Barometer, which also offers suggestions as to how policy makers, industry and private individuals can work together to improve the state of Europe’s homes and offices – something that will be absolutely vital in working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and achieving the commitments laid out in the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement.

The Healthy Homes Barometer 2018 comprises new analysis of the EU’s Eurostat database carried out by Ecofys, a Navigant Company, along with new research from Fraunhofer IBP, supplemented by existing published data.

Read the full the Healthy Homes Barometer 2018 here.