Warm Homes Prescription Conference

At the Warm Homes Prescription Conference, Adam Fudakowski, Co-Founder of Switchee, and Jenny Danson, CEO of Healthy Homes Hub, shared their bold vision for tackling fuel poverty and improving housing conditions across the UK. Through innovative technology and fresh approaches, they are working to ensure that no one lives in a cold home. 

Adam Fudakowski: A New Era for Smart Homes and Warmth

Adam, kicked things off by explaining the incredible work his company Switchee has been doing over the past decade to help social landlords understand their properties better. Switchee’s smart thermostat technology has been rolled out to over 100,000 social housing properties across the UK, providing landlords with real-time insights on temperature, humidity, and energy efficiency. This data is crucial in tackling damp, mould, and retrofit needs in homes, ensuring that properties are safe, warm, and energy-efficient.

Key Innovation: The Fuel Poverty Index

One of the standout features of Switchee’s work is their Fuel Poverty Index. This tool gathers real-time data from social housing properties to track the percentage of homes that are not heating to the recommended 18°C. The insights gathered help housing providers understand how their tenants are coping with rising fuel costs and whether interventions are needed to support those at risk.

Warm Rents: A Bold Vision

Adam introduced Switchee’s latest project, Warm Rents, working with the Healthy Homes Hub and Sero. It is inspired by housing models in Sweden where it is standard for social landlords to provide homes at a guaranteed temperature of 21°C, eliminating fuel poverty. Switchee is testing a similar model in the UK, where tenants in the pilot programme will receive energy vouchers(between £500 and £1,000) paid for by their landlord to ensure their homes stay warm. These vouchers will be tied to maintaining a minimum temperature of 18°C during the day and 16°C at night.

The idea behind Warm Rents is simple: by aligning the landlord’s responsibility with the tenant’s comfort, landlords are incentivised to invest in energy-efficient retrofits. If the landlord is responsible for ensuring homes are warm, it becomes in their best interest to improve the building’s energy efficiency, creating a win-win situation for both parties.

Benefits for Health and Housing

The expected outcomes of this project are substantial:

• Improved health and wellbeing: Warmer homes lead to fewer health issues such as respiratory illnesses, reducing the burden on the NHS.

• Reduced property maintenance costs: Preventing cold-related damp and mould issues will save landlords money on repairs.

• Greater alignment of incentives: With landlords now invested in ensuring their properties are warm, retrofits become a priority.

Jenny Danson: The Healthy Homes Revolution

Following Adam’s presentation, Jenny Danson, CEO of Healthy Homes Hub, took the stage with a passionate call to action. Jenny, who has worked in the housing sector for over 20 years, stressed the critical importance of ensuring that homes are not just safe and compliant but also healthy environments. She shared her frustration that too many people are still living in unhealthy homes, leading to illness, poor quality of life, and in some cases, premature death.

The Healthy Home Vision

Jenny explained that a healthy home is not just about bricks and mortar; it’s about creating environments where people can thrive. This includes addressing issues like cold, damp, and poor air quality, which have a direct impact on residents’ health. One of the key drivers behind the Healthy Homes Hub is using data-driven approaches—such as those pioneered by Switchee—to ensure that interventions are targeted and effective.

Key Project: UPRN Data Mapping

Another of Jenny’s exciting projects is working with Innovate UK  to create a data asset including every social housing home in the UK using the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) system. By integrating NHS health data, Utility Data and Publicly Available data with the UPRN, it is possible to identify the specific health challenges faced by residents in certain homes, whether it’s respiratory illnesses, slips and falls, or other health issues. This collaboration allows housing providers to proactively address problems, ensuring that homes are not contributing to residents’ poor health. Merseycare and Prima Housing have already tested this concept and are well on their way to introduce this. 

Collaborating with Switchee: Warm Rents in Action

Jenny’s partnership with Switchee on the Warm Rents project is a key part of the Healthy Homes Hub work. She highlighted the importance of measuring health outcomes, not just compliance, in social housing. By combining smart technology with a social rent model, Jenny aims to demonstrate how providing warm homes can lead to tangible health benefits, especially for vulnerable and underserved communities.

No One Should Have to Choose Between Heating and Eating

A central theme of Jenny’s talk was the need for systemic change. She spoke passionately about the reality that many families face, where children are coming home to houses that are 9°C, keeping their coats on indoors, and struggling with damp, cold conditions. For Jenny, this is unacceptable, and she is determined to drive the sector towards a future where no one has to make the sometimes impossible choice between keeping their home warm and putting food on the table.

Conclusion: The Future of Healthy Homes

Both Adam and Jenny are leading the way in addressing the complex and interconnected issues of fuel poverty, housing quality, and health. Their collaboration on the Warm Rents project is an exciting step towards creating a housing system where everyone, regardless of income, can live in a home that is warm, safe, and healthy.

Their shared vision is simple but powerful: through innovation, data, and collaboration, we can transform housing in the UK. The work of Switchee and Healthy Homes Hub brings us one step closer to making that vision a reality for all.