The past two years have caused the deep upheaval of so many aspects of society. Never before in history had most of the world been restricted to the confines of their homes. As a result, we have collectively been forced to consider the ways in which our homes impact our health, and subsequently reassess our priorities when it comes to finding a place to live. Partnering with Built-ID, we took the opportunity to ask communities across the UK to understand more about their views on healthy homes in the summer of 2021.
With our expertise in health and well-being in the built environment, we worked with Built-ID and Give My View to create a survey that investigated community priorities around the topic. The survey was directed at adults aged 18 to 65 and advertised across the social media channels Instagram and Facebook. A total of 392 people responded to the survey and points collected during the survey were donated to three charities: Shelter; Mind and The Trussell Trust Food Bank to thank respondents for contributing.
The Built-ID report provides an analysis of those responses along with a summary of our key findings to determine what people value most and support developers and designers in their efforts to create healthier homes for the future.
Some of the key stats that came out in the report are as follows:
84% of respondents believed that it is important that their home benefits their health.
82% of respondents agreed they would pay more for a home that used healthy materials.
88% of respondents would not consider living in a home without private outdoor space.
89% of respondents agreed that natural light affects their mood.
The final question enabled the respondents to provide their own thoughts on community priorities for healthy homes and revealed some interesting themes. These included concerns that environmental issues are being prioritised over human health, leading to smaller, overheated living spaces without access to private outdoor space:
“The ‘incredible shrinking home’ is a feature of our society and is bound to be the major cause of stress. We are building huge numbers of apartments with no balconies or even proper openable windows. This is disastrous. Human beings have to be the primary focus.”
Another theme that came out in the written feedback was regarding standard layouts and open-plan designs that are no-longer appropriate for the way home life has evolved in the last two years – and how this needs to urgently be addressed in new designs for living:
“Modern open plan homes are out of date. We all need another space to retreat to. Why do developers all use similar layouts. Why do developers ignore the style and finishes of houses in the local area. They might as well build blocks and stuff us in like prisoners.”
To read the full report, download it here:
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