Affordable Warmth Is Now a Public Health Issue

For housing associations, local authorities and NHS organisations, keeping people warm is no longer simply about comfort, it is increasingly recognised as a key part of protecting health, reducing inequalities and delivering sustainable housing.

Cold homes are associated with a range of health risks, particularly for older adults, young children and people living with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions. Government guidance identifies cold, damp and hazardous housing as an important determinant of health and wellbeing, highlighting that the right home environment helps people live independently, manage long-term conditions and reduces pressure on health and care services.

At the same time, housing providers face increasing responsibilities under Awaab’s Law and the wider Social Housing Regulation reforms to investigate and remedy hazards such as damp and mould within defined timescales.

The challenge facing landlords is therefore much broader than replacing an ageing heating system. It is about delivering affordable warmth, healthier homes and better building performance while managing costs across large property portfolios.

Supporting Vulnerable Residents Through Better Heating

Many residents living in social housing experience one or more of the following:

• Fuel poverty
• Long-term health conditions
• Reduced mobility
• Poorly insulated housing
• Concerns about damp and mould
• Limited ability to manage heating costs

When heating becomes unaffordable, households often reduce heating use to save money. This can allow internal temperatures to fall, increasing the likelihood of condensation and creating conditions that may contribute to damp and mould.

Government guidance on housing and health emphasises that homes should support people’s health, independence and wellbeing throughout their lives. Poor-quality housing, including cold and damp homes, is linked with poorer physical and mental health outcomes.

For housing providers, helping residents maintain safe indoor temperatures is therefore both a housing management issue and a public health consideration.

Cold Homes and the Cost to the NHS

The financial impact of unhealthy housing extends well beyond housing maintenance budgets.

The Local Government Association highlights that the NHS spends at least £1.4 billion every year treating illnesses directly linked to people living in cold, damp and hazardous homes. These conditions include respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease and poor mental health associated with inadequate housing. The cost of this estimated by the government reached £15.4 billion in their “Health Inequalities” research briefing when considering societal costs.

The Government has also noted that hazardous housing places a significant burden on the NHS and that improving housing quality can reduce healthcare demand while improving residents’ wellbeing.

For NHS estates teams and Integrated Care Systems, improving housing conditions is increasingly recognised as part of a preventative healthcare strategy rather than simply a housing issue.

Reducing Tenant Energy Costs Without Compromising Comfort

One of the biggest challenges facing housing providers is balancing resident comfort with affordability.

Traditional heating systems often operate using fixed schedules or rely on residents manually adjusting thermostats. This can lead to:

• Overheating when rooms are empty
• Under-heating due to concerns about energy bills
• Uneven temperatures throughout the home
• Increased condensation risk
• Higher operating costs

A more intelligent approach is to match heating output to how the property is actually used.

Motion-Based Heating That Responds to Occupancy

NexGen’s low-voltage infrared heating system is designed to work alongside an intelligent control platform that uses occupancy detection to manage heating on a room-by-room basis.

Rather than heating every room continuously, the system can:

• Detect when a space is occupied.
• Increase comfort temperatures only when required.
• Maintain a lower background temperature when rooms are vacant.
• Automatically return to comfort settings when occupancy is detected.

Maintaining a background temperature can help reduce large fluctuations in internal surface temperatures while avoiding unnecessary energy use in unoccupied spaces.

For housing providers, this approach aims to balance resident comfort with lower energy consumption. See the EyeSense Controls page for more information.

Remote Monitoring That Supports Healthy Homes

Heating systems are becoming part of a wider building performance strategy.

The NexGen control platform has been developed to monitor environmental conditions within each property, including:

• Occupancy
• Temperature
• Relative humidity
• Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
• Dew point

This information can be viewed remotely by authorised housing managers or maintenance teams, providing greater visibility across housing portfolios.

Rather than waiting for a resident to report problems, environmental trends may help identify properties where conditions are becoming less favourable.

For example, prolonged periods of:

• Low indoor temperatures
• Elevated humidity
• High condensation risk
• Poor ventilation indicators

can prompt earlier investigation and support proactive property management.

This does not replace routine inspections or professional diagnosis of building defects, but it can provide valuable information to help prioritise interventions.

Supporting Damp and Mould Prevention

Awaab’s Law has reinforced the need for landlords to respond quickly to damp and mould hazards.

Government guidance also makes clear that landlords should investigate the underlying causes of damp and mould rather than attributing them solely to resident behaviour.

Maintaining stable indoor temperatures is one factor that can contribute to reducing condensation risk when combined with appropriate ventilation, insulation and property maintenance.

NexGen’s infrared heating technology is designed to provide radiant heat to occupied spaces, while intelligent controls help maintain consistent background temperatures throughout the property.

Together with environmental monitoring, this supports a more proactive approach to managing internal conditions.

Affordable Warmth Through Intelligent Heating

Affordable warmth is about more than reducing energy bills.

It means providing residents with homes that are:

• Warm enough to support health.
• Affordable to heat.
• Comfortable throughout the year.
• Less susceptible to condensation.
• Easier to manage over the long term.

By combining low-voltage infrared heating with intelligent occupancy controls, housing providers can work towards heating strategies that deliver warmth where it is needed while reducing unnecessary energy consumption.

Better Data for Better Asset Management

Large housing providers often manage thousands of homes.

Knowing which properties require attention has traditionally depended on resident reporting or periodic inspections.

Environmental monitoring provides an additional layer of insight.

Building performance data can help identify:

• Properties experiencing consistently low temperatures.
• Homes with elevated humidity.
• Areas at increased risk of condensation.
• Heating patterns across housing portfolios.
• Opportunities to improve energy performance.

This supports evidence-based asset management and helps direct maintenance resources where they are likely to have the greatest impact.

Supporting Housing Associations and the NHS

Housing providers and NHS organisations increasingly share common objectives:

• Reducing health inequalities.
• Supporting vulnerable residents.
• Lowering energy costs.
• Improving housing quality.
• Preventing damp and mould.
• Delivering Net Zero commitments.

Heating systems alone cannot solve every housing challenge. Structural defects, insulation, ventilation and ongoing maintenance remain fundamental to healthy homes.

However, combining efficient infrared heating with intelligent occupancy control and environmental monitoring offers an opportunity to create homes that are warmer, more energy efficient and easier to manage. NexGen has been proactive in supporting a large number of social housing groups. See our case studies for further information.

The Future of Affordable Warmth

The future of housing is not simply about installing new heating technologies.

It is about creating connected, intelligent homes that help protect residents while giving landlords better information to manage their assets.

By integrating:

• Low-voltage infrared heating,
• Motion-based occupancy control,
• Remote environmental monitoring,
• Temperature, humidity, CO₂ and dew point analysis,

NexGen aims to support housing providers in delivering healthier homes, reducing unnecessary energy use and helping residents maintain affordable warmth throughout the year.

As the housing sector continues to respond to rising energy costs, stronger regulation and increasing expectations around tenant wellbeing, intelligent heating systems have the potential to become an important part of a wider healthy homes strategy, supporting both better resident outcomes and more efficient estate management.