Cold housing: evidence, risk and vulnerability

Abstract

Cold housing is not widely recognized as a problem that occurs in mild-climate countries like Australia. But emerging evidence suggests that it is an important, albeit under-acknowledged, problem that may contribute to high rates of ill health and mortality during the winter months. We bring together two historically important theoretical developments to better understand the social and economic distribution of cold housing. Drawing on nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey between 2001 and 2016, we find that the characteristics of households unable to adequately heat their homes strongly reflects known patterns of inequality across, for example, tenure, employment and health, but that there are also more unexpected trends in age and income. Critically, our analyses demonstrate that individuals' vulnerability to cold housing risk can be anticipated, which has important implications for public policy and community-based interventions.

Energy Justice in Apartment Buildings and the Spatial Scale of Energy Sustainable Design Regulations in Australia and the UK

“…This evidence of the externality of renters within the apartment housing market provides further justification for energy sustainable regulation at the resident scale and the need to establish a minimum acceptable level of energy sustainable quality across all apartments, regardless of size or, by association, tenure type. Building upon recent evidence of the need for greater energy sustainability protection via regulation in rental properties (Daniel et al, 2021), this research demonstrates the significance of the scale of the regulation requirements within apartment buildings. Specifically, it has argued the importance of individual resident scale in apartment design regulation for rental properties whose residents have little agency in a low vacancy rental market.…”

“…Scale, in this instance, is defined as the apartment building as a whole vs. the resident scale of each individual apartment dwelling within this building. The growing significance of the issue of energy poverty in Australia, particularly for residents in rental properties (Daniel et al, 2021), is beginning to be fully recognised by government planners and policymakers. In 2020, new requirements were introduced for efficient heating and cooling technology in rental properties and targeted financial subsidies for energy costs as a way to offset these pressures (D'Ambrosio, 2020).…”

Prevalence of Energy Poverty in Japan: A Comprehensive Analysis of Energy Poverty Vulnerabilities

“…6b depicts household energy consumption by fuel type with respect to EP rates in 2017. 6 This shows that the use of kerosene (heating oil) is closely correlated with the climatic characteristics in each region, as kerosene is used for heating in winter, specifically in regions with harsh winters [12]. Thus, the northern regions of Hokkaido, Tohoku and Hokuriku exhibit the highest use of kerosene and the highest EP rates in winter and, consequently, may be at a higher risk for respiratory illnesses [23].…”

“…Sector, provided by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan [65]. 6 Authors' own calculations by using anonymised information from the 2017…”

“…Adequate levels of domestic energy services, such as space heating and cooling, water heating, lighting, cooking, usage of home appliances, and even ICT usage, are considered as essential for guaranteeing a decent standard of living for the citizens, and even requisites for fully realising their potential in their own lives. 1 Furthermore, the relationship between physical and mental health issues and EP has been actively studied by researchers across the EU; for instance, burns and fires from candles or other unconventional heating systems [5], chronic cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses [6], exacerbation of other chronic health conditions [7] and poor nutrition [8]. Deaths are known to occur when energy-poor households are disconnected from energy services for non-payment, mainly due to the impacts of extreme temperatures on the elderly (i.e.…”