It’s the accolade no one wants but now Warm This Winter has ranked the top 10 cities for cold damp homes in the UK and is calling on the Government to prioritize insulation as the quickest way to bring them up to standard.
Taking the top spot is Plymouth, where a quarter of the population live in cold and damp housing according to the new research, conditions that leave them exposed to numerous health complications. [1]
While the Government has announced that a Warm Homes Plan will help improve people’s homes in years to come, this will be too late for the one-in-five people across the UK living in such conditions now.
People who live in poorly insulated homes risk seeing damp and mould spread and the NHS warns that people living in these conditions are more likely to have respiratory problems, respiratory infections, allergies or asthma.
Damp and mould can also affect the immune system while living in such conditions can also increase the risk of heart disease, heart attacks or strokes.
Cold homes can cause and worsen respiratory conditions, cardiovascular diseases, poor mental health, dementia and hypothermia as well as cause and slow recovery from injury.
To tackle the problem, a large majority of people support a fully funded nationwide insulation and ventilation programme to create healthy, energy efficient homes that will slash excess deaths caused by cold, damp houses in winter.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) agree the worst insulated homes should be the priority as almost half (47%) of those polled are worried about how they will stay warm this winter, with 46% worried if they have to rely on the NHS this winter. [2]
Warm This Winter is urging for insulation to be prioritised and the Government to reiterate its commitment to the £13.2 billion to implement the Warm Homes Plan.
Warm This Winter spokesperson Caroline Simpson said:
“It is shocking that too many people are living in true Dickensian conditions, where cold damp homes are making them ill caused by over a decade of neglect from the last government.
“The Government has made encouraging noises and we hope they prioritise insulation so people get the homes they deserve and banish these appalling conditions to a bygone era where they belong.
“These shocking figures have hardly changed since last year and with energy bills still averaging £700 a year more than in 2021, the situation is now critical for the Government.
“The Chancellor must take two immediate steps in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Firstly, she must fully support the Warm Homes Plan with £13.2bn of funding and a commitment to help the worst insulated homes get support first.
“Then Ministers must also bring in more support for vulnerable households this winter and speed up plans to bring in a social tariff for next winter - a move that is backed by the vast majority of voters.”
As local authorities increasingly step in to help household suffering in cold damp homes, such as Camden Council’s Cost of Living Crisis Fund, Basingstoke & Deane Town Council’s range of support and the Sunderland Fuel Fund, a spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, added:
"We know councils want to help their residents stay safe and improve the energy efficiency of their homes, but they need the resources to do that.
"The Chancellor needs to work with tenants, landlords, social housing providers to ensure that schemes are available to help people stay warm every winter.
"The Government must have the ambition to create the homes people deserve and end the reality of people living in appalling conditions reminiscent of those from a bye-gone era."
James Dyson, Senior Researcher, E3G, added:
“This research lays bare how damp, cold and mouldy much of our housing stock is. Unfortunately, the previous government presided over a decade of declining insulation rates; in 2023, we helped just a tenth of the number of homes as we did in 2010.
“Investing the full £13.2bn in home insulation is a crucial start to get back on track. We also need government to take some bold decisions to revitalise and renew public insulation schemes. The last Labour government proved it was possible, and with the right reforms this government can help millions of households this parliament.”
NOTES
[1] Opinium conducted an online survey of 2,000 UK adults between 22nd and 26th November 2024. Results have been weighted to be nationally representative. In 2023, there were 54,196,443 people aged 18 plus in the UK according to ONS. Just under a fifth (16%) consider themselves to be living in a cold, damp home, which is consistent with last year's survey. This increases to a quarter (24%) of 18-34 year olds and renters (23%), and just over a quarter of Londoners (27%). In line with this, a quarter (25%) consider their homes to be poorly insulated and ventilated, increasing to 38% of Londoners, and 39% of those renting from a local authority.
Below are the list of cities where people reported that they lived in cold damp homes:
| Plymouth | 25% |
|---|---|
| Brighton | 21% |
| London | 21% |
| Liverpool | 20% |
| Newcastle | 17% |
| Sheffield | 17% |
| Manchester | 17% |
| Birmingham | 16% |
| Cardiff | 15% |
| Norwich | 14% |
[2] Opinium conducted an online survey of 2,014 UK adults between 7th and 8th October 2024. Results were weighted to be nationally and politically representative of the UK adult population.
