Homes that can't cope with heat put thousands of people at risk

Lower-income householders, minority ethnic people and those with young children are more likely to live in homes at risk from dangerous overheating, research has found.

- Helena Horton Fiona Harvey Michael Goodier

The UK has baked in multiple heatwaves this summer, with many people sweltering in hot homes that were not designed to withstand extreme temperatures. June was the hottest on record and in general this summer England was an average of 1.58C above average temperatures.

Hot homes are dangerous for health; cardiovascular and respiratory issues, sleep disturbance, mental health problems and heat exhaustion all correlate with high temperatures in the home. Health risks spike when temperatures inside are above 25C, and there is a link between overheating homes and the risk of death, particularly for elderly people.

An analysis of housing stock by the Resolution Foundation has found nearly half (48%) of the poorest fifth of English households have homes liable to get too hot - three times as many as among the richest fifth (17%).

Owning your own home reduces the risk of overheating; two-thirds of socially renting households face the highest risk of their homes getting too hot compared with 55% of private rented homes and 17% of those that are owner occupied.