Your Home Is Health Infrastructure
We've known for decades that where people live shapes how long they live. Poor housing conditions — mold, inadequate ventilation, lead paint, noise, overcrowding — are directly linked to respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, chronic stress, and sleep disruption. A 2021 study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that indoor environmental quality is among the top five modifiable risk factors for chronic disease in the United States.
But the conversation has rarely extended to the housing market itself. Platforms like Zillow and Redfin show you square footage and school ratings. They don't tell you whether the apartment's windows face north (inadequate natural light), whether the building is on a high-traffic road (chronic noise stress), or whether the HVAC system is 30 years old (poor air quality). These aren't amenities. They're health factors.
The Six Things That Matter Most
At Restored Living, we evaluate every property using our Healthy Home Index — a scoring system built around six dimensions of residential health. Here's what we look for and why each factor matters:
Natural Light
Circadian rhythms are regulated by natural light. Inadequate daylight is linked to seasonal depression, disrupted sleep, and reduced immune function. We assess window orientation, room exposure, and light penetration.
Ventilation & Air Quality
Indoor air can be 2–5x more polluted than outdoor air. We assess HVAC age and type, operable window coverage, and risk of moisture accumulation that leads to mold.
Outdoor Access
Access to green space within a 10-minute walk is associated with lower cortisol levels and higher self-reported wellbeing. We score proximity to parks, trails, and open space.
Noise Environment
Chronic noise exposure — even below the threshold of conscious annoyance — elevates stress hormones. Properties near highways, flight paths, or commercial districts are scored accordingly.
Walkability
Car-dependent neighborhoods are associated with lower physical activity, higher obesity rates, and more social isolation. Walk Score is one input, but we go further with direct assessment of pedestrian infrastructure.
Community Design
Homes with shared spaces — a yard, a common room, a porch — enable casual social interaction. This is the design feature most strongly associated with reduced loneliness and improved mental health outcomes.
The Isolation Problem Nobody Talks About
Beyond the physical, there's a social dimension to housing health that the market has almost entirely ignored. Social isolation is now classified by the U.S. Surgeon General as a public health epidemic. Research published in PLOS Medicine found that social isolation carries health risks equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day — greater than the risks of obesity or physical inactivity.
The design of American housing has made this worse. Single-family zoning, car-centric communities, and units designed for maximum privacy have systematically removed the conditions that enable natural human connection. Apartment buildings where neighbors never meet. Suburbs where you need a car to interact with another person. This is not a personal failure of lonely people. It's a structural design problem.
Why Co-Buying Changes the Health Equation
Co-buying is, at its core, a decision to live in community with people you choose. This has direct health implications that go beyond the property itself:
- Chosen community — you're matched with co-buyers whose values, schedules, and lifestyle preferences align with yours. This is fundamentally different from apartment living where neighbors are strangers.
- Shared spaces by design — multi-bedroom properties purchased for co-ownership typically include shared kitchens, living areas, and outdoor spaces. These design elements enable the casual daily interaction that research consistently identifies as the most powerful buffer against loneliness.
- Financial stability as health infrastructure — chronic financial stress is one of the most damaging health factors in modern life. Reducing your monthly housing cost from $2,800 in rent to $1,550 in co-buying costs doesn't just improve your bank account. It reduces one of the primary sources of chronic stress in your life.
What We Actually Score — and What We Won't Touch
The Healthy Home Index scores a property, not just its listing. We don't accept what sellers say about a property's condition. We look at building records, request inspection reports, and run our own assessments for properties in our curated inventory. Properties that fail minimum thresholds for ventilation quality or natural light aren't presented to co-buyers, regardless of their price or location.
This is a different standard than any real estate platform currently applies. We believe that a home that damages your health — even slowly, even imperceptibly — is not a good home at any price. The Healthy Home Index exists because we think you deserve better than the market currently offers.
Learn more about how we evaluate properties on our Healthy Home Index page, or start your co-buying profile to see scored properties in your area.