There are few things more central to our overall health and wellbeing than having a safe, secure place to call home.

It is one of the main foundations on which our ability to lead settled and healthy lives sits and when that security is removed or placed at risk, the consequences can extend into almost every other area of our lives. In this respect, it is not possible to have a full discussion around our health without also discussing a place to call home.

The Scottish Government’s Housing strategy, Housing to 2040, recognises as much, saying:

“Homes have never been simply bricks and mortar – good housing and homes support our health, our wellbeing, our life chances and our job prospects. Everyone should have a home that brings them those chances and opportunities.”

There is strong evidence behind this approach. The link between poor quality housing and health is long established and our first laws aimed at addressing the connection date back almost 200 years. Conditions such as cold, mould or damp can lead to serious health issues, while for older people, an unsafe home can increase the risk of a fall or injury. Research from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and the University of Glasgow estimates that health conditions associated with poor quality housing cost NHS Scotland around £530 million every year.

Housing conditions are linked to poverty as well, which itself has strong links to worsening health outcomes. Lower income households can have fewer options to move out of unsuitable housing or meet the cost of repairs, further deepening inequality. Poor energy efficiency in a home means higher energy bills and greater pressure on already stretched household budgets just to keep homes warm. Almost a third of Scottish households are living in fuel poverty, with 14% living in extreme fuel poverty.

The impact also extends to people’s mental health and to the risks that come with living in unsettled or poor quality accommodation. And when housing insecurity becomes homelessness, there is a real risk of homelessness and poor mental health reinforcing each other in a cycle that can be very difficult to break once it is established.

For children, long spells without a safe, settled home can disrupt their routines, friendships, progress at school, and the formative years that shape how they grow up. With child poverty one of the single biggest predictors of future homelessness, ensuring a stable, healthy home for children is not just about protecting kids from homelessness today, it is about preventing it in the future.

All of this makes this year’s Scottish Housing Day theme – Healthy Homes, Healthy Futures – particularly timely. A healthy, settled home is not just a question of housing policy, it is a question of public health as well. Housing to 2040 makes another important commitment that “everyone can expect the same high standards no matter what kind of home or tenure they live in.” Homeless Network Scotland is committed to working with our partners in the third sector and government to ensure this is not just rhetoric and that this commitment becomes a reality.

It is welcome therefore that next month will see Awaab’s Law come into force in Scotland, bringing with it new requirements for social and private landlords to investigate reports of damp and mould and begin necessary repairs within specified timescales. And with a Human Rights Bill promised in the second year of the current parliament, Homeless Network Scotland will be working with partners to ensure this contains strong protections around housing and homelessness, in light of the fact that the right to adequate housing is an existing human right enshrined in international law.

But the strongest legal protections in the world could not change the fact that in Scotland there are still not enough homes for everyone. With over 18,000 households in temporary accommodation, including record numbers of children, we still need to build the homes needed to meet the scale of the housing emergency.

This last point cannot simply be a discussion about governments hitting or missing targets. It must mean the right homes, in the right places where they are needed, and crucially, of the right quality.

Too often, housing continues to be discussed as something that sits separately from our ambitions to build a healthier country, reduce poverty, grow our economy, or give children the best possible start in life. In reality, achieving any of those goals becomes much more difficult if they do not rest on the foundation of a safe and settled place to live.

This year’s Scottish Housing Day can act as a timely reminder that housing policy is public health policy and that investing in homes is not just a question of bricks and mortar- it is an investment in a healthier nation and in all our futures.