The quality of housing has major implications for people’s health. Housing in cities is of particular concern, with the world’s urban population predicted to double by 2050 and, with it, the demand for housing. In both developed and developing countries, improving housing conditions and reducing health risks in the home is thus critically important. Improved housing conditions can save lives, reduce disease, increase quality of life, reduce poverty, help mitigate climate change and contribute to the achievement of a number of Sustainable Development Goals, including those addressing health (SDG 3) and sustainable cities (SDG 11). Housing is therefore a major entry point for intersectoral public health programmes and primary prevention. Ensuring everyone lives in healthy and safe dwellings has implications for national, regional and local governments, which set overall standards and determine the legal context for housing construction and renovation. With these guidelines, WHO provides evidence-based recommendations on conditions and interventions that promote healthy housing, and facilitates leadership in enabling health and safety considerations to underpin housing regulations. By focusing on a sector, as opposed to a specific health risk, intervention, activity or policy, the guidelines combine existing WHO guidance on housing issues with new evidence-based recommendations. This provides accessible guidance, which will enable health considerations to inform housing, energy, community development, and urban development policies.