This is leaving children at greater risk of developing health problems, including asthma, reduced lung growth, weakened immune systems and reduced brain development.
The warning has been made in a Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)’s report on the impact of poor housing and environmental conditions on children and young people.
It highlights how the UK has the highest prevalence of asthma in Europe and in the four years to March 2023, 54 children and young people died from asthma with deaths four times higher in areas of deprivation.
Unsafe housing may include structural hazards, poor ventilation, damp and mould, and exposure to toxins such as asbestos or lead, the report says, adding that in many areas, including London and Liverpool, air pollution levels exceed the World Health Organisation guidelines and European Union legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5).
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