Revisiting the relationship among housing tenure, affordability and mental health: Do dwelling conditions matter?

Abstract

Housing is a fundamental social determinant of health (Dunn, Hayes, Hulchanski, Hwang, & Potvin, 2004; Shaw, 2004). Most health research has focused on three key aspects of housing: physical housing conditions, housing affordability and housing tenure. Specifically, substandard dwelling conditions, such as overcrowding and poor ventilation, are the well-known primary risk factors of infectious and respiratory disease. Also, housing problems may cause family disruption and deprivation (Chung et al., 2020; Singh, Aitken, Baker, & Bentley, 2019). While homeownership gives homeowners a greater sense of comfort derived from favourable economic status (Baker, Bentley, & Mason, 2013; Rohe & Stegman, 1994), inadequate housing conditions tend to cause anxiety and depression (Shaw, 2004), and difficulties in affording adequate housing are likely to cause mental health problems (Mason, Baker, Blakely, & Bentely, 2013). However, the association between housing and health outcomes requires a more in-depth and comprehensive analysis in view of the complicated relationship among the housing factors, themselves. For example, homeownership and affordable housing do not necessarily accompany decent dwelling conditions, particularly among low-income households (Pollack, Griffin, & Lynch, 2010). Although higher-income households are more likely to be homeowners, some of the low-income households might also be homeowners (Baker et al., 2013; Macintyre et al., 2003). Moreover, higher-income households tend to pay higher housing costs, but this is often because of their willingness to pay for decent housing, rather than financial hardship (Bentley, Baker,

Housing, Living Arrangements and Mental Health of Young Adults in Independent Living

“…All in all, our study demonstrates that perceived poor housing quality and material hardship are negatively associated with the mental health of young adults living independently. This finding proves that the association between housing quality and mental health among older people and low-income families [ 49 , 50 ] is shown in a similar manner among young adults. In addition, it was demonstrated that the more housing problems young people are exposed to, the greater risks of mental health problems they are prone to, which supports the foundational assumption of the cumulative risk model [ 39 , 51 ].…”

Stress and Health Status Among Members of a Disadvantaged Community in Flint, Michigan in the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…After controlling other variables, living in their own house and completing high school stayed significant as being negatively associated with stress. This confirms the previous finding on association of housing tenure with mental health [32]. Perhaps, homeowners may have lower stress levels than non-homeowners by securing the place to live.…”

Associations between Objective and Subjective Housing Status with Individual Mental Health in Guangzhou, China

“…These facilities were all categorized as "available" or "unavailable". If a participant answered "unavailable" to any of the five facilities, it was considered as living with poor housing conditions [41,42]. Housing stability level was captured by the question "Have you changed your place of residence in the past 5 years?"…”