# Housing
Stable, quality housing is an essential component of good health. When individuals live in a safe, affordable home and community, they can prioritize their health, better manage disease, and invest in their well-being. High housing costs can force individuals to choose between housing payments and other essentials such as food, medical care, and utilities. It can also contribute to increased stress, which decreases resistance to disease.`i` Children in unstable housing are at risk of malnutrition and developmental delays that can have lifelong health consequences.`ii` Housing that is not adequately maintained, ventilated, or free from pests and contaminants, such as mold, lead, and radon, contributes to rates of injury, asthma, cancer, neurotoxicity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and poor mental health. Housing located away from amenities and without access to transportation can lead to social isolation and loneliness.
There is much that you can do to address housing challenges. It can be difficult to know where to start and how to structure an effective local housing strategy.
So, what steps can you take to steer your community toward housing that supports more equitable health outcomes and protects the health of all residents, including older adults and people with disabilities?
To help you figure out where to begin, we have categorized the many local housing policies into three functional areas: [**Planning & Assessment**](/healthy-community-design/housing-introduction/planning-and-assessment.md)**,** [**Production & Preservation**](/healthy-community-design/housing-introduction/production-and-preservation.md)**, and** [**Quality & Stability**](/healthy-community-design/housing-introduction/stability-and-quality.md)**.**
For each area, we list possible mechanisms for influencing local housing strategy.
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Community engagement can and should happen throughout the process for all housing strategies, from conception of an idea through construction or adoption of a policy. Developers or municipalities will likely engage a traditional set of players, but should be encouraged to also include those who are part of your community health system and hospitals as well as older adults and disability advocates.
{% endhint %}
Citations
`i` *RWJF How Does Housing Affect Health?:* [*https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2011/05/housing-and-health.html*](https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2011/05/housing-and-health.html)\
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`ii` *Cutts, Diana Becker, et al. "US housing insecurity and the health of very young children." American Journal of Public Health 101.8 (2011): 1508-1514.*
*Taylor, Lauren. (June, 2018). Housing And Health: An Overview Of The Literature. Health Affairs. Retrieved from:* [NextPlanning & Assessment](https://app.gitbook.com/@hcdtk/s/stable-healthy-and-quality-homes/~/drafts/-Ma4_kLQNDSX0DVtyz7M/housing-introduction/planning-and-assessment)
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