Shaping Healthier Places Through Evidence-Based Development

Almost six months on from the release of the Indices of Deprivation (IoD) 2025, we are seeing a shift in the planning landscape. The initial window of ‘getting to know the data’ has closed, and attention has turned to application. These updated indicators, from noise pollution to energy efficiency, are now being actively referenced, tested and embedded in planning decisions and Health Impact Assessments (HIA) across the country.

The  IoD 2025 provides the most up-to-date picture of relative deprivation across England. By combining social, economic, and environmental factors, the IoD shows how communities experience inequalities in income, employment, education, health, living environment, housing and access to services.

For built environment professionals, and especially those working to create healthy places and undertake HIAs, these insights are no longer just contextual; they are becoming essential to identifying where development can make the greatest difference to community health and wellbeing.

Building on the previous IoD, the 2025 update provides a more detailed and contemporary evidence base. The updates made reflect both evolving patterns of deprivation and a broader understanding of what drives health and quality of life at the neighbourhood scale.

Key updates in IoD 2025

• Living Environment: Refined measures of air quality, factors with well-established links to respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, and the first-ever inclusion of noise exposure, recognising its impact on sleep, stress, and cardiovascular health;
• Housing and Urban Environment: New indicators on housing energy efficiency and access to private outdoor space, highlighting links between housing, affordability, and wellbeing;
• Digital Access and Social Infrastructure: Measures such as broadband connectivity show how digital inclusion supports economic participation, education, and community wellbeing; and
• Health Service Access: Updated primary care data provides crucial context for understanding local health outcomes.

“Air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK. It links directly to the living environment domain, in which scores are based on how background air pollutant concentrations compare to WHO guidelines. The use of WHO guidelines in the IoD shows a health-driven approach to assessment and utilisation of the latest global health research.

Indoor air quality in the living environment is also captured by the IoD housing domain which assesses components of the Decent Homes Standard, including hazards such as damp and mould. Indoor air quality has gained increasing attention in recent years; the introduction of the energy performance score to indicate thermal comfort, which is intrinsically linked to the presence of damp and mould in homes, further demonstrates the growing concern for indoor environmental quality.

Angela Goodhand, Head of Air Quality, BWB

The introduction of noise pollution in 2025 as an indicator to assess deprivation in the living environment highlights that the IoD dataset is becoming increasingly more holistic in its approach to understanding deprivation within local communities.

The inclusion of noise exposure from major transport sources such as road, rail and aircraft across England in IoD 2025 is based on the number of residents exposed to transport noise above 55 dB L_den (the threshold generally regarded as the level at which potentially harmful effects begin to occur) and through associated penalties associated with the noise parameter, provides for a greater sensitivity to noise during evening and night-time hours – recognising the importance of noise pollution in determining living environment quality.

Ian Wallbank, Head of Acoustics, BWB

While IoD domains are measured independently, they also reflect how domains interact in reality; for example, transport related activity may not only affect air quality and noise rankings in the living environment domain, but also intersect with health deprivation and accessibility to housing and public services. Recognising these interactions strengthens the evidence base for mitigation and design measures in development proposals.

It is important to note that accurate interpretation of the IoD dataset requires localised insight and professional judgement. Boundary changes and updated indicators mean that apparent shifts in deprivation may reflect the methodological changes made over time as much as changes seen in real world conditions.

Shaping Healthier Places at BWB

IoD 2025 is more than a set of rankings, it’s a lens for understanding the factors that shape health. At BWB, our approach to undertaking HIA, creating healthy places, and driving lasting, positive impact is grounded in multidisciplinary evidence and collaboration. Our multidisciplinary approach brings together expertise across:

• Inclusive Design Engagement: Using digital tools and accessible workshops to reach groups often under-represented in the planning process, directly tackling the “Social Infrastructure” gaps identified in the IoD.
• Air quality and noise: reducing exposure through design, assessing impacts and developing management or improvement plans;
• Transport and movement: supporting sustainable travel, accessibility and active lifestyles;
• Flood risk and drainage: strengthening climate resilience and long-term safety;
• Biodiversity and green infrastructure: enhancing access to nature and ecosystem services; and
• Stakeholder & Community Intelligence: Moving beyond traditional consultation to gather “lived experience” data, ensuring technical mitigations, like noise barriers or new cycle routes, serve the specific needs of the local demographic.
• Sustainability and energy: improving building performance, reducing carbon and tackling fuel poverty.
• Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE): Engaging with communities after completion to measure the real-world impact of design on health and wellbeing, creating a feedback loop that informs future evidence-based development.

The release of the IoD 2025 marks a pivotal shift in how we define a ‘successful’ development. By incorporating more nuanced indicators like noise pollution, energy efficiency, and digital connectivity, the data mirrors the multidisciplinary reality of how people experience place.

At BWB, we see these indices not just as a set of constraints to navigate, but as a roadmap for meaningful intervention. Healthy placemaking is no longer just about mitigating harm; it’s about proactively using this evidence base to bridge the gap in health outcomes. When we align air quality, transport, and green infrastructure through this sharper lens of deprivation, we move beyond simple compliance and begin to design the resilient, equitable communities that the next generation deserves.

Josh Dickerson, Director of Place

Our services move beyond compliance toward holistic place shaping. By integrating these disciplines and embracing their interconnectivity, BWB aids clients in designing developments that respond to local deprivation patterns, mitigate health risks, and support healthier, more equitable communities.