A shot of optimism in Westminster and Camden
In my ongoing quest to find built environment practitioners taking on public health challenges in the communities they serve, I rarely experience what I did last week – humility and optimism. Twice.
I attended two events, both
· London based
· Focused on addressing a specific challenge through multidisciplinary expertise
· Evidence led
· Grounded in a belief that homes and places impact our health
The first, on Tuesday, was a meeting of the Healthy Homes and Buildings All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). APPGs are informal, cross-party group in the UK Parliament formed by MPs and members of the House of Lords who share an interest in a specific policy area, country, or cause. They are not official parliamentary committees or bodies, so cannot pass laws or direct government policy.
APPGs bring together politicians from different political parties (and both houses of Parliament) to discuss common interests.
Many APPGs work with outside organizations, charities, experts, and businesses to raise awareness or hold inquiries on specific issues. While informal, they must follow parliamentary rules and register their groups, officers, and any financial benefits or sponsorships they receive.
The Healthy Homes and Buildings APPG describes itself as on a mission “to effect positive policy change which embeds health and wellbeing principles in future legislation for future generations”. It runs several sessions throughout the year, and this one promised to “bring together parliamentarians, industry leaders and policy experts to explore the critical elements that are too often overlooked in the healthy homes debate, including overheating and thermal comfort, air quality and ventilation, lighting, acoustics, and furniture poverty, amongst others.
As the Government seeks to improve the quality of homes across the UK, this discussion will consider how a more holistic approach to policy and building standards can better protect health and wellbeing”.
The presentations and discussion at this session were both informative and refreshing. The group’s approach to building healthy homes and buildings is practical and evidence-led, and the people presenting and attending made contributions focused on solutions and delivery. These included evidence on lighting and sound, and the benefits of refurbishment over new build.
I spoke about how data centres can channel their waste heat to homes and public buildings, something which I believe will contribute greatly to the development of healthy homes and buildings, and requested that this be added to the APPG remit. There was lots of support for this. Real problems meeting real people with solutions.
The APPG has recently published its tenth anniversary “Story Book” Why Healthy Homes and Buildings Matter, and it’s worth a read – if only to identify which MPs have experienced the impact of homes and buildings on their health, and are keen to progress the cause for healthy homes and buildings.
The next evening I attended an event at Euston, where Lendlease is working with The Crown Estate to deliver the masterplan for the regeneration of Euston Station and its surrounding area.
Euston is part of the Knowledge Quarter, an innovation district centred around Kings Cross, Euston Road and Bloomsbury and home to some of the world’s leading academic, cultural, research and scientific organisations. The Euston regeneration aims to leverage the existing Knowledge Quarter by expanding the “Smart Mile” Innovation Corridor linking many of these organisations and by delivering high-density commercial and lab spaces.
Most importantly, it aims to deliver 1,500 new homes and public spaces to the London Borough of Camden.
At the core of this project is EustonX, an initiative aiming to “build the ecosystem before the buildings”. It describes its creation as complementary to the transformation of the Euston area, with
“a unifying ambition to advance healthier lifespans for all. At a time when the London Growth Plan identifies frontier innovation, including life sciences, AI, quantum computing and other breakthrough technologies, as a key driver of the capital's future growth and competitiveness, EustonX will help shape the conversation by developing thought leadership, supporting breakthrough projects, and fostering the next generation of talent. Its remit will continue to expand as new opportunities and collaborations emerge.”
Last week’s event was one of the conversations that EustonX hopes to shape, and focused on a major health challenge in our ageing society: dementia.
It convened a multidisciplinary panel to address how to support people with dementia, with experts from the arts sector, clinical research, the startup ecosystem and the NHS making practical and evidence-led contributions. This is a good example of how conversations about specific populations and conditions can actively shape placemaking and, in the case of dementia, influence how the housing sector responds to the growing challenge of supporting people living with dementia across the UK.
Both of these events, through both the formal presentations and the informal chat afterwards, gave me reason to be optimistic that things are happening to improve our health through the built environment. They also reinforced my view that it’s focused initiatives like these, informed by multidisciplinary expertise, that are beginning to cut through. More on this in weeks to come.
Clare Delmar
Listen to Locals
September 16 2026
