Overheated homes are putting the health of more than one million children in London at risk

An investigation by the London Assembly’s Planning and Regeneration Committee concluded that three-quarters of social homes in the capital are considered at high risk of overheating.  A report, published by the Committee on 26th August, called on the Greater London Authority to produce a plan to reduce heat-related deaths, alongside a programme to retrofit homes with improved ventilation, shutters and other shading measures.  The report also called for higher overheating standards for the city as a whole, to be enforced via the planning system; greater use of ‘active cooling’ technology, such as air conditioning; and a naming system for heatwaves, similar to the system used for storms, to improve public awareness.