The government must acknowledge the explicit and fundamental link between homes and health if it is going to meaningfully improve public health in the next 10 years. That’s the message of our submission to the Government’s ‘Ideas for Change’ consultation, to develop the 10 Year Health Plan for England
Generation Rent research, in partnership with the National Survivor User Network (NSUN), conducted in October 2024, found that 9 in 10 private tenants’ mental health had negatively been affected by renting and that 2 in 5 reported that their physical health had been negatively affected.
The same report found that deep and underlying issues with insecurity, affordability and low standards were key in driving poor mental and physical health for private renters. The research was conducted through a survey between 24th June and 19th July 2024, which received 814 submissions.
It is vital that the government adopts a new approach surrounding renting, housing and homelessness – one which centres healthcare at their core.
Insecurity
Over 4 in 5 (82.7%) private renters worried about being evicted, in our mental health research, and over half (57.4%) said this was something that they worried about “a lot”. There was also a strong link between Section 21 evictions and an increased fear of eviction. 9 in 10 (92.1%) people who had experienced these evictions stated that they worried about being evicted, with over three quarters (77.4%) stating that they worried “a lot”.
Insecurity of tenure brings with it a threat of eviction and homelessness which severely worsen physical and mental health. Between 2018 and 2021, 63% of people who had experienced homelessness reported they had a long-term illness, disability or infirmity and 82% reported a mental health diagnosis. Homeless people have an elevated risk of heart problems, chronic breathing problems, asthma and many other physical health problems as well as mental health issues including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and psychosis.
As of November 2024, the Renters’ Rights Bill was currently passing through Parliament. This will bring about changes to the law to help improve tenant security in their homes, including ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. However, as it stands during the time of this written submission, under the Bill tenants will still be vulnerable to rent-hike evictions, meaning that, if rents on new tenancies are rising quickly, landlords can increase the rent with the purpose of forcing us out – effectively giving us a ‘Section 21 by the back door’. To give us the security we have been promised, the government must limit the amount that rent can be increased within a tenancy to the lowest of either wage growth or inflation.
The government must act to bring an end to unfair evictions for private renters, including effective protections from ‘no fault’ evictions and economic evictions caused by unaffordable rent increases.

Affordability
Worrying about paying the rent each month was extremely commonplace amongst participants in our research, with almost 4 in 5 (78.7%) indicating that this was a concern, and almost half (45.5%) stating that they worried “a lot” about covering their monthly rent.
There was also a link between unfair rent increases leading to greater concerns surrounding paying the rent. Over half (54.8%) of participants who had previously experienced an unfair rent increase reported that they worried about paying the rent “a lot” compared to 35.7% of people who had not experienced this.
Rents continue to spiral at unprecedented and unsustainable levels and have been outstripping inflation and wages this year.
According to the ONS, average private rents in the UK increased by 8.4% in the 12 months up to September 2024, while inflation increased by 4% in September and wage growth by 4.8% between July and September. The most recent ONS statistics show average rents increased to £1,319 a month in England, with London seeing the highest rents in the country at an average price of £2,114.
This, during a time of record homelessness levels. Annual official statistics show 324,990 households were assessed as homeless in 2023/24 – a rise of 10% in a year. 13,570 households faced homelessness in 2023-24 because their landlord wished to re-let the property. Under the Renters’ Rights Bill this would not be a valid ground for eviction so there would be a corresponding fall in homelessness cases. However, as previously mentioned, the Bill does not restrict unaffordable rent increases which leave tenants vulnerable to eviction and homelessness in a ‘Section 21 by the back door’. Unaffordable rents and unfair rent rises are direct causes of homelessness, which has a devastating impact on peoples’ physical and mental health.
The government must act to stop unfair and unaffordable rent rises which are causing such distress and physical harm to renters. They must also unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to help private tenants pay their rents amidst spiralling rises.
Poor standards
There is a long-established link between standards in peoples’ homes and their health. The National Housing Federation estimates that the health effects of poor housing are costing up to £2 billion per year in treatment. Shelter also found that children growing up in bad housing have up to 25% higher risk of severe ill-health and disability during childhood and early adulthood. Privately rented homes are especially likely to have poor standards, the English Housing Survey (EHS) estimated that in 2021, a quarter (23%) of privately rented homes did not meet the Decent Home Standard – around 1 million homes.
Cold and poorly insulated homes were also significantly more likely to worsen physical health, including asthma and other respiratory illnesses and can increase the risk of heart disease and cardiac events. Privately rented homes are currently the worst in terms of energy efficiency compared to any other tenure.
The Generation Rent 2024 mental health report also found a link between issues with repairs and mental health. Overwhelmingly, respondents stated that they felt stressed when reporting repairs to their landlord or letting agent, with 88.1% reporting so, and with almost two thirds (64.9%) stating that they felt this worry “a lot”.
The government must raise the quality of homes offered to private renters, not only in extending the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the sector, but also to make sure that these, and other standards, are effectively enforced by local councils. Local authorities need more resources to inspect homes and enforce standards effectively, particularly after taking on greater duties under the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Find out more about the NHS consultation here.
Read more about Generation Rent’s mental health research here.
Do you have a story about how renting has impacted your health? Tell us here.