Improving air quality in people’s homes

Key information

• Partner: Repowering London 
• Amount: £197,376 
• Duration: 18 months 
• Programme: Health effects of air pollution 

What we’re doing together

Air pollution has devastating effects on people’s health both inside and outside the home. We’re partnering with Repowering London and Air Pollution Services to explore the most effective ways to improve indoor air quality in people’s homes. 

Repowering London already offer community support services to residents across Lambeth who are at risk of fuel poverty. The service includes surveying residents’ homes to see where energy efficiency measures can be implemented. This partnership will explore how Repowering London can incorporate guidance on indoor air quality into their support services.  

By working with up to 25 households from Roupell Park – a housing estate in Brixton – Repowering London will learn about effective ways to monitor and mitigate indoor air pollution. A key aspect of the work will be learning about residents’ attitudes to – and experiences of – indoor air quality. The project will take an inclusive design approach and will ensure interventions are co-designed and tailored to residents’ homes.  

The partnership will work with people who are particularly susceptible to the health effects of air pollution including older people, people with existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions, and families with young children. We will also prioritise residents of Black and minoritised ethnicities. 

We will contribute £1,000 per resident to pay for interventions that can be installed to improve the air quality inside homes. 

Air Pollution Services will liaise with Repowering London to provide guidance on interventions and on how indoor air quality can be improved, as well as technical advice on monitoring indoor air pollution. 

Aims of the partnership

This partnership will improve our understanding about the best ways improve indoor air quality, particularly for residents who are most vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution.  

Awareness in the local community is generally low when it comes to the health effects of air pollution, and this project will inform residents of the issue while co-designing solutions to improve air quality.  

At the end of the project, we’ll evaluate and share insights on what has worked, the challenges and future recommendations. 

Ultimately, organisations like Repowering London will be able to use the findings of this partnership to design effective interventions to improve indoor air quality for residents.  

Connection to our strategy

Reducing exposure to air pollution – particularly for those who are most susceptible to the health effects of air pollution – is a priority for our programme. That means focusing on indoor as well as outdoor air quality.  

We’re already working to better understand the sources of indoor air pollution and how residents’ behaviour influences indoor air quality; and you can read more about that work here. But as well as having a good understanding of the sources of indoor air pollution, we want to get an understanding of the best principles and approaches to adopt when developing a service to tackle indoor air pollution. This partnership will aim to answer that question.