Research | Healthy Housing CRE

Research streams

The Healthy Housing CRE aims to generate new knowledge that can be used for evidence-based policy-making that not only improves housing but maximizes health gains and reduces health inequalities cost effectively.

Research projects are based in three main streams. Each stream focuses on three priority population groups: Indigenous Australians, Australians in need, and Australians renting in the private and social housing sectors.

Stream one:
How housing affects health over time

Lead: Professor Rebecca Bentley

The current evidence base lacks Australian-specific evidence, causally focussed evidence and an understanding of how housing affects health over time (patterns of exposure and time lags between exposure and outcome).

What are the short and long-term health benefits of improving the condition, affordability and security of housing for children and adults?

Stream two: Health gains and costs from housing

Lead: Professor Tony Blakely

Neither policy makers nor researchers understand the magnitude of potential health gains, health inequality reductions, and health expenditure impacts of housing interventions; such evidence should improve policy making.

What is the health impact of intervening on facets of housing and how long until health gains accrue?

What is the impact of intervention on health system expenditure?

How does the magnitude of health gain compare with other health sector interventions (e.g. screening programmes, tobacco control, etc)?

What are the costs of the interventions?

Stream three: Capturing complexity in the housing system

Lead: Professor Emma Baker

Recent advances have allowed improved prediction, the characteristics of populations at risk to be more accurately visualised, and enabled interventions to be targeted by sub-populations – and perhaps even ‘personalised’. These advances are relevant to understanding and intervening on the relationship between housing and health.

How can we better measure the effects of exposure to unhealthy housing?

How does risk vary across subpopulations?

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Media

Papers and reports

2026

Li, Y., Singh, A., & Bentley, R. (2026). The protective effect of housing affordability on childhood asthma risk: a longitudinal fixed-effects analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, kwag013. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwag013

2025

Bentley, R., & Mason, K. (2025). The importance and challenges of using natural experiments to evaluate the health effects of housing policy: a commentary on Schwartz and Chu’s “Do laws protecting tenants’ health work?: Implied warranties of habitability and respiratory health”. American Journal of Epidemiology, 194(9), 2755-2757. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf134
Gatto, M. R., Li, A., & Bentley, R. (2025). Health and social impacts of exposure to mould-affected housing in Australia: a qualitative study. Public Health Research and Practice, 35(2), -. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1071/PU24024
Gatto, M. R., Li, A., Martino, E., & Bentley, R. (2025). Damp housing conditions as a determinant of psychological distress: a longitudinal analysis of the British Household Panel Survey. American Journal of Epidemiology, kwaf263. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf263
Grocott, K., Mansour, A., Shiels, E., Bentley, R., & Mason, K. (2025). Mental health effects of exposure to environmental noise at home: A systematic review of potential mediating pathways. Noise and Health, 27(126). https://journals.lww.com/nohe/fulltext/2025/05000/mental_health_effects_of_exposure_to_environmental.8.aspx
Li, A., Emma, B., & and Bentley, R. (2025). Housing and mental health inequalities during COVID-19: the role of income and housing support measures. Housing Studies, 40(6), 1379-1400. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2024.2366961
Li, A., Mason, K., Li, Y., & Bentley, R. (2025). The challenges of quantifying the effects of housing on health using observational data. Annals of Epidemiology, 102, 23-27. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2024.12.013
Li, Y., Mishra, S. R., Wilson, T., Bentley, R., & Blakely, T. (2025). Quantifying Health Gains and Health System Expenditure Impacts of Eliminating Indoor Mould in Homes. medRxiv, 2025.2004.2013.25325769. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.13.25325769

2024

Arundel, R., Ang, L., Emma, B., & and Bentley, R. (2024). Housing unaffordability and mental health: dynamics across age and tenure. International Journal of Housing Policy, 24(1), 44-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2022.2106541
Clair, A., Baker, E., & Kumari, M. (2024). Are housing circumstances associated with faster epigenetic ageing? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 78(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220523
Daniel, L., Lang, M., Barlow, C., Phibbs, P., Baker, E., & Hamilton, I. (2024). A national roadmap for improving the building quality of Australian housing stock. AHURI Final Report. https://doi.org/10.18408/ahuri3232301
Dorraki, M., Liao, Z., Abbott, D., Psaltis Peter, J., Baker, E., Bidargaddi, N., Wardill Hannah, R., van den Hengel, A., Narula, J., & Verjans Johan, W. (2024). Improving Cardiovascular Disease Prediction With Machine Learning Using Mental Health Data. JACC: Advances, 3(9_Part_2), 101180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101180
James, L., Daniel, L., Bentley, R., & Baker, E. (2024). Housing niches: new directions for housing and urban policy. International Journal of Housing Policy. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2023.2254466 (UniSA Creative)
Lai, G., Morphett, K., Ait Ouakrim, D., Mason, K., Howe, S., Rees, V., Li, S., & Gartner, C. (2024). Tobacco control interventions for populations living in subsidised, low-income housing: a scoping review. Public Health Research & Practice, 34(1 DOI - http://dx.doi.org/10.17061/phrp3412407), e3412407. http://dx.doi.org/10.17061/phrp3412407
Meadows, J., Mansour, A., Gatto, M. R., Li, A., Howard, A., & Bentley, R. (2024). Mental illness and increased vulnerability to negative health effects from extreme heat events: a systematic review. Psychiatry Research, 332, 115678. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115678
Singh, A., Martino, E., Mansour, A., & Bentley, R. (2024). Smoking Uptake Among Adolescents in Social Housing Australia. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, ntae207. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae207

2023

Baker, E., & and Bentley, R. (2023). Housing and health: a time for action. International Journal of Housing Policy, 23(2), 197-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2023.2204650
Baker, E., Barlow, C. F., Daniel, L., Morey, C., Bentley, R., & Taylor, M. P. (2024). Mental health impacts of environmental exposures: A scoping review of evaluative instruments. Science of The Total Environment, 912, 169063. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169063
Baker, E., Morey, C., Daniel, L., Beer, A., Bentley, R., Stone, W., Rowley, S., Nygaard, C. A., & London, K. (2023). An Australian housing conditions data infrastructure. Scientific Data, 10(1), 817. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02739-2
Barlow, C. F., Daniel, L., & Baker, E. (2023). Cold homes in Australia: Questioning our assumptions about prevalence. Energy Research & Social Science, 100, 103124. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103124
Barlow, C. F., Daniel, L., Bentley, R., & Baker, E. (2023). Cold housing environments: defining the problem for an appropriate policy response. Journal of Public Health Policy, 44(3), 370-385. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-023-00431-8
Bentley, R., Daniel, L., Li, Y., Baker, E., & Li, A. (2023). The effect of energy poverty on mental health, cardiovascular disease and respiratory health: a longitudinal analysis. The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, 35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100734
Daniel, L., Emma, B., Andrew, B., & and Bentley, R. (2023). Australian rental housing standards: institutional shifts to reprioritize the housing–health nexus. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 10(1), 461-470. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2023.2190406
Howard, A., Mansour, A., Warren-Myers, G., Jensen, C., & Bentley, R. (2023). Housing typologies and asthma: a scoping review. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1766. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16594-8
Li, A., Mansour, A., & Bentley, R. (2023). Green and blue spaces, COVID-19 lockdowns, and mental health: An Australian population-based longitudinal analysis. Health & Place, 83, 103103. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103103
Li, A., Toll, M., & Bentley, R. (2023). Health and housing consequences of climate-related disasters: a matched case-control study using population-based longitudinal data in Australia. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(6), e490-e500. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00089-X
Li, A., Toll, M., & Bentley, R. (2023). Mapping social vulnerability indicators to understand the health impacts of climate change: a scoping review. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(11), e925-e937. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00216-4
Li, A., Toll, M., Martino, E., Wiesel, I., Botha, F., & Bentley, R. (2023). Vulnerability and recovery: Long-term mental and physical health trajectories following climate-related disasters. Social Science & Medicine, 320, 115681. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115681
Martino, E., Adelle, M., & and Bentley, R. (2023). Housing Vulnerability and COVID-19 Outbreaks: When Crises Collide. Urban Policy and Research, 41(1), 6-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2022.2028616
Mishra, S. R., Wilson, T., Andrabi, H., Ouakrim, D. A., Li, A., Akpan, E., Bentley, R., & Blakely, T. (2023). The total health gains and cost savings of eradicating cold housing in Australia. Social Science & Medicine, 334, 115954. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115954

2022

Andersen, P., Mizdrak, A., Wilson, N., Davies, A., Bablani, L., & Blakely, T. (2022). Disaggregating proportional multistate lifetables by population heterogeneity to estimate intervention impacts on inequalities. Population Health Metrics, 20(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12963-022-00282-7
Baker, E., Daniel, L., Beer, A., Bentley, R., Rowley, S., Baddeley, M., London, K., Stone, W., Nygaard, C., Hulse, K., & Lockwood, A. (2022). An Australian rental housing conditions research infrastructure. Scientific Data, 9(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01136-5
Clair, A., & Baker, E. (2022). Cold homes and mental health harm: Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Social Science & Medicine, 314, 115461. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115461
Lee, S. M., Martino, E., Bismark, M., & Bentley, R. (2022). Evidence to guide ethical decision-making in the management of older people living in squalor: a narrative review. Internal Medicine Journal, 52(8), 1304-1312. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15862
Li, A., Baker, E., & Bentley, R. (2022). Understanding the mental health effects of instability in the private rental sector: A longitudinal analysis of a national cohort. Social Science & Medicine, 296, 114778. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114778
Li, A., Martino, E., Mansour, A., & Bentley, R. (2022). Environmental Noise Exposure and Mental Health: Evidence From a Population-Based Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 63(2), e39-e48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.02.020
Li, A., Martino, E., Mansour, A., & Bentley, R. (2022). Environmental Noise Exposure and Mental Health: Evidence From a Population-Based Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 63(2), e39-e48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.02.020
Malvaso, C., Montgomerie, A., Pilkington, R. M., Baker, E., & Lynch, J. W. (2022). Examining the intersection of child protection and public housing: development, health and justice outcomes using linked administrative data. BMJ Open, 12(6), e057284. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057284
Mansour, A., Bentley, R., Baker, E., Li, A., Martino, E., Clair, A., Daniel, L., Mishra, S. R., Howard, N. J., Phibbs, P., Jacobs, D. E., Beer, A., Blakely, T., & Howden-Chapman, P. (2022). Housing and health: an updated glossary. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76(9), 833. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2022-219085
Mansour, A., Bentley, R., Baker, E., Li, A., Martino, E., Clair, A., Daniel, L., Mishra, S. R., Howard, N. J., Phibbs, P., Jacobs, D. E., Beer, A., Blakely, T., & Howden-Chapman, P. (2022). Housing and health: an updated glossary. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76(9), 833. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2022-219085
Martino, E., Li, Y., Kali-Opio, J., & Bentley, R. (2022). Between liminality and a new life in Australia: What is the effect of precarious housing on the mental health of humanitarian migrants? Cities, 131, 103900. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103900
Moskos, M., Isherwood, L., Dockery, M., Baker, E. and Pham, A. (2022) ‘What works’ to sustain Indigenous tenancies in Australia, AHURI Final Report No. 374, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited, Melbourne, http://doi.org/10.18408/ahuri3122901
Singh, A., Mizdrak, A., Daniel, L., Blakely, T., Baker, E., Fleitas Alfonzo, L., & Bentley, R. (2022). Estimating cardiovascular health gains from eradicating indoor cold in Australia. Environmental Health, 21(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-022-00865-9

2021

Blakely, T., Sigglekow, F., Irfan, M., Mizdrak, A., Dieleman, J., Bablani, L., Clarke, P., & Wilson, N. (2021). Disease-related income and economic productivity loss in New Zealand: A longitudinal analysis of linked individual-level data. PLOS Medicine, 18(11), e1003848. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003848
Fleckney, P., & Bentley, R. (2021). The urban public realm and adolescent mental health and wellbeing: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 284, 114242. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114242

Research streams

Stream one: How housing affects health over time

Stream two: Health gains and costs from housing

Stream three: Capturing complexity in the housing system

Papers and reports

Stream one:
How housing affects health over time