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Housing around 38,000 households cannot turn their heating off even during the summer, meaning that hot pipework is often driving indoor temperatures up while the resident has no means of intervening.
Additional analysis by the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing found that 1.59 million children are in homes that get uncomfortably hot, of whom around 70,000 are under the age of one.
The government’ s Warm Homes Plan makes this point bluntly. It identifies that urban high-density flats and terraced houses in those denser areas are the stock most vulnerable to overheating, and it also notes a correlation between the people most vulnerable to heat stress and those most likely to be living in exactly those property types in the first place. investigation and repair timescales apply. Where a home cannot be made safe within those timescales, the landlord must arrange suitable alternative accommodation instead.
One thing that needs considering though, and landlords should not underestimate, is how different heat is from damp. Damp leaves longstanding issues such as black mould, which can be a lengthy and expensive process to get rid of, whereas excessive heat typically leaves nothing behind. It is completely seasonal and subjective, it also varies by floor and property positioning, while the severity of it also depends heavily on who is living there. A temperature that is uncomfortable for one resident is dangerous for a person with a respiratory condition or a newborn, and the guidance is explicit that these reports cannot be written off as a lifestyle issue.
The law is about to formalise it
From 30 November, and subject to parliamentary approval, phase two of Awaab’ s Law brings excess heat into scope alongside excess cold, fire, and electrical hazards. Where a hazard presents a significant risk of harm, ccemagazine. com 11