Are housing circumstances associated with faster epigenetic ageing?

This open access article in the BMJ on Epidemiology and Community Health reports on research undertaken by Australian Centre for Housing Research, The University of Adelaide, showing that living in a privately rented home is related to faster biological ageing.

Importantly, drawing on data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, it found the impact of private renting vs owned outright is greater than the impact of experiencing unemployment vs being employed or being a former smoker vs never having smoked. And, when including historical housing circumstances in the analysis, they found that repeated housing arrears and exposure to pollution/environmental problems are also associated with faster biological ageing.