Energy poverty: from care to sustainable housing improvement

This issue therefore spans multiple domains: healthcare, housing, energy and social policy. TNO is working on how these domains can be more effectively connected in practice, with the aim of developing a scalable approach for the Netherlands.

From insight to intervention: the role of housing quality in health and energy poverty

In addition to its existing programme and research on energy poverty, focusing on monitoring, target groups and policy, TNO also examines the relationship between housing quality, energy poverty and health, and how stakeholders can respond more effectively in practice.

Research indicates that low-income households living in poorly insulated homes tend to incur higher healthcare costs. At the same time, energy support and housing improvements are associated with improvements in energy costs, living comfort and health. While not all relationships are directly causal, they provide clear starting points for targeted interventions.

With the project Healthy Living on Prescription, TNO builds on earlier research into the health impacts of energy support and housing renovations for households experiencing energy poverty.

An integrated approach to health and housing quality

Through Healthy Living on Prescription, TNO explores how healthcare professionals, municipalities and partners in sustainability and energy efficiency can better identify and refer residents with health issues potentially linked to their home or energy bills.

This approach complements existing healthcare and energy poverty policies. It focuses on identifying problems in the living environment, enabling targeted referrals to in-home support, and strengthening collaboration between the healthcare, social and energy domains.

The approach is being explored in practice in several municipalities, including:

• Heerlen – integrated approach with a focus on scaling and long-term embedding
• Arnhem – targeted at vulnerable families and (unborn) child health
• Leiden – strengthening the action perspective for GPs through social practice support
• Amersfoort – practical, accessible approach within existing neighbourhood structures
• Almelo – pilot under development, linked to local collaboration

This approach can provide healthcare professionals with additional options for action and helps to better target support and home improvements towards households most in need.

Our work

TNO supports municipalities and organisations in developing and scaling integrated approaches at the intersection of health, housing and energy. Our experts and behavioural scientists design and facilitate collaboration between the healthcare, social and energy domains, and map the organisations involved and their roles within the value chain.

We also support the implementation and monitoring of pilots and translate insights into practical and scalable solutions for policy and practice. This includes explicit attention to key conditions such as roles and responsibilities, collaboration, privacy and data exchange. In this way, TNO contributes to approaches that are not only evidence-based, but also implementable and scalable in practice.

How does this work in practice?

In practice, this approach leads to coordinated collaboration around the resident, involving multiple organisations and stakeholders. Healthcare professionals identify health issues and assess whether these may be linked to housing conditions or energy costs. Where relevant, they can refer residents to implementing organisations.

These organisations assess the living situation, carry out home visits, and provide advice and small-scale measures. Where necessary, housing associations or landlords are involved to enable structural improvements.

This creates a continuous chain from identification to support and, where needed, home improvement, linking healthcare, the social domain and housing.