Housing costs and mental health in different parts of the UK

For most of us, housing is the biggest regular expense we face. But our research shows that people with mental health problems are more likely to be spending over a third of their income on housing than the wider population.

Unsurprisingly, this is most evident in London, where the share of households where at least one adult has a mental health problem — and whose housing costs exceed 33% of household income —  is 14% percentage points higher than households in which no adult has a mental health problem.

Yet this disparity is also significant in places like Wales and Scotland, where the share of households where at least one adult has a mental health problem — and whose housing costs exceed 33% of household income —  is 8% percentage points higher than households in which no adult has a mental health problem.