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Everyone knows how important it is to have a home. It’s no surprise that being homeless is bad for a person’s health: it can even kill. And it’s just as obvious that housing which is damp, cold, overcrowded or riddled with toxins is a recipe for poor heFour simple ways to make life better for tenants
Everyone knows how important it is to have a home. It’s no surprise that being homeless is bad for a person’s health: it can even kill. And it’s just as obvious that housing which is damp, cold, overcrowded or riddled with toxins is a recipe for poor health. Yet the place you call home can also affect your health and well-being in subtler, but similarly important, ways. In particular, our research shows that tenants’ health is affected by whether they feel at home – and this, in turn, is heavily influenced by the treatment they get from their landlord. We followed more than 70 tenants renting from three different social and private housing organisations in and around Glasgow over the first year of their tenancy. Through interviews with the tenants, we discovered that there were four simple things that landlords, letting agents and housing associations could do to reduce stress and make tenants feel more at home in their properties. 1. Have a good relationship The tenants involved in our research told us how important it was to be able to deal with a named member of staff, who knows them personally and understands their situation. This was particularly true when tenants had had... Read more