There is now a significant body of knowledge showing that housing is an important determinant of health. This evidence base in this area has grown, in part, due to the interest in large and persistent socioeconomic inequalities in health status observed in the affluent countries of the world. These inequalities are believed to be the result of socioeconomic differences in the quality of everyday living conditions, and attributes of housing and its immediate environment are significant components of such conditions. Because housing and residential environments are multiattribute phenomena, however, it is necessary to identify those attributes of housing and neighborhoods that have an influence on health, to guide both policy and research in the future. Six key dimensions of housing that are plausibly related to health are identified (biological/chemical/and physical factors; physical design; psychological dimensions; social benefits; financial dimensions; and locational dimensions). The latter of these, locational dimensions of housing, connect to another large body of research on neighborhoods and health.