Housing crisis in England 'threatens' public health 13 April 2012 | By Rhiannon Bury The scale of the housing crisis in England threatens to take public health ‘back to the 80s’, environmental health experts have warned. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health said rising levels of homelessness, more families living in bed and breakfast accommodation, increasing private sector rents and a growing number of complaints about unscrupulous landlords are making an unwelcome return. As local authorities reduce investment in enforcement activities, fewer inspections and fewer health investigations will take place, and many public health ‘victories’ will be lost, it warned. It also said the introduction of a cap on housing benefit present new challenges for all those working in public health if there is an increase in winter cold deaths. David Kidney, head of policy at the CIEH, said: ‘The CIEH has a number of serious concerns about the implications of the go...