Hotter UK summers are causing domestic indoor temperatures to become unbearable for many families, with some flats reaching 43C and baseline temps around 31C. Children are particularly affected, reporting illness, inability to regulate temperature, stomach pain, and disrupted sleep. New analysis of the English Housing Survey 2022 finds almost 5.5 million children — over half in England — live in homes at risk of overheating, with over a million in London, mainly in social housing. Families use coping strategies like walking streets at night, driving in air-conditioned cars, and can’t afford home air-conditioning installations. Some housing associations acknowledge buildings were not designed to stay cool and are developing climate adaptation plans.
Keisha says her top-floor flat can reach up to 43C in summer, and the baseline temperature is around 31C. "It should be illegal to live in these conditions," says the 36-year-old, one of many parents who say that living in an "unbearably" hot flat is making their children sick. Almost 5.5 million children - over half of those in England - are living in homes at risk of overheating, according to new analysis of the English Housing Survey 2022 by the Resolution Foundation think tank.
Her nine year old daughter struggles in the heat, "unable to regulate her temperature". "She doesn't feel well, her tummy often hurts." "The other night it was 20 degrees outside and she was crying at 3am. I take endless litres of water to her room just to make her calm down." Keisha often walks the streets at night or drives around in an air-conditioned car to escape the heat.
Keisha's housing association says that when the block was constructed, "it met all planning and building regulations at the time, however, along with most properties in the UK, with the extreme temperatures we're now seeing, these buildings were not designed or built in a way which would keep them cool". Some housing associations are "extremely mindful" of the risk of homes overheating and are developing strategic climate adaptation plans to address the risks posed by hot summers, according to Alistair Smyth, director
Collection
[
|
...
]