Healthy housing--advice for students.

Abstract

Students, largely those in higher education, now represent a large housing market in their various places of study. For many students, moving away to university or college is their first extended experience of living away from the family home. The main concerns of this project are the conditions of the housing in which students choose to live and their awareness of the health issues related to this choice. A review of literature concerning the relationship between health and the housing environment shows that there are undoubtedly connections between poor housing and ill health, however complex their study. Consideration of these studies plus the legal requirements and guidelines, alongside discussion of student priorities, concludes the project with the development of a 'checklist for healthy student housing'. This takes the form of an advisory list of considerations for students to apply to prospective housing and adapt to meet their personal requirements.