Bad housing accelerated UK’s mental health decline

The Covid inquiry has highlighted how poor housing conditions led to a structural decline in mental health during the pandemic.

On Monday, 16 February 2026, the first hearing of the final module of the Covid inquiry took place. In total, there have been 10 modules, each focused on a different area of the pandemic response. Module 10 looked at ‘Impact on society’. This included the impact on vulnerable people, such as those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

According to Kate Blackwell, counsel for the inquiry:

People’s housing situations had a profound impact on how they experienced the pandemic.

Of course, this was far worse in more deprived areas. Furthermore, it was:

disproportionately experienced by socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnic minority households.

Both groups were more likely to live in overcrowded or poor-quality housing.

Additionally, the inquiry linked overcrowding, poor housing, and housing insecurity to higher levels of psychological distress. All three are “known risk factors” for poor mental health.

But wasn’t that entirely predictable? From the start of the pandemic, the instructions were to stay at home. Obviously, anyone living in small, overcrowded or shitty conditions would suffer far more than those living in countryside mansions.

Poor management

The inquiry also highlighted how ‘Everyone In’ — a government scheme to get everyone who was sleeping rough off the streets in March 2020 — ended whilst the pandemic was still ongoing. Both the management of the scheme and its ending may have had an “adverse impact” on people experiencing homelessness.

Additionally, people who moved from street homelessness to Covid-secure accommodation had “divergent experiences”. Individuals found the transition from face-to-face to remote contact with support workers especially challenging.

Some groups had overlapping vulnerabilities, such as care leavers, victims of domestic abuse, those with mental health conditions or migrants. For these groups, the inequalities were “particularly pronounced”.

Underinvestment

A report published just before the inquiry also showed that the pandemic exposed the UK’s long-term underinvestment in social housing.

It highlighted how repairs in social housing slowed down or completely stopped during lockdowns, meaning the quality of housing declined significantly.

Issues such as damp and mould became more apparent when people were forced to stay at home. Of course, this further intensified both mental and physical health conditions.

The financial pressure from rising energy bills also made matters worse, especially for people living in poorly insulated homes.

The report also accuses some landlords of using the pandemic as an excuse to delay essential maintenance.

The final hearing of the inquiry is continuing this week, where the panel will hear about the impact of the pandemic response on other vulnerable groups.

Feature image via UK Covid-19 Inquiry