England risks building new ‘death traps’ as experts warn of overheating crisis | Planning policy

England risks building a new generation of “death trap” buildings that could fatally overheat unless the government tightens standards and prioritizes climate measures, planning experts have said.

Fears are growing about the plight of vulnerable people in heatwaves; Research this week suggests 2,700 people died in the May and June heatwaves in England and Wales. But only half of local plans drawn up by councils and local authorities require new buildings to have a cooling or ventilation strategy to prevent overheating, findings by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) have found.

Although almost all British councils say they plan to include green infrastructure in new housing projects, such as trees that can cool streets or provision of access to waterways, only a quarter have a recognized means to deliver this.

“This is a matter of life and death,” said Celia Davis, TCPA’s interim director of operations. “We must avoid setting death traps.”

He warned that although many local authorities have high ambitions for dealing with the heat, this does not always happen in practice. “There is a gap between what they say they want and what they get,” he said.

RTPI reportTitled Local Plans and the Climate Crisis, it uses AI to evaluate local plans from English councils, including those that have already been adopted and those still being evaluated. While the authors acknowledged that the use of AI in such a report was “experimental” and had the potential to result in some inaccuracies, RTPI said it was confident the method provided an overall reliable picture.

Earlier this year, ministers unveiled the “future homes standard”, a new set of regulations that will determine how homes are built from 2028 and include provisions to keep homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer. However, the standard will not apply to buildings such as schools, hospitals and nursing homes. Planning experts told the Guardian that expert-recommended rules on new homes that do not require blinds and shutters to be used to block heat may also be insufficient to stop overheating.

“The homes of the future standard is not enough because you also need to consider the environment,” said Dan Slade, head of research and practice at RTPI. “If there aren’t enough trees, shade or green space, it will impact the temperature these homes are exposed to.”

Slade also pointed out that “permissible development rights” also allow housing to be built from converted offices without the regulations that apply to other homes. “Most of these are glass boxes that can easily overheat,” he said. A study in London found that 14% of such houses, of which there are currently around 120,000, have no windows that can be opened.

In a separate report published on Tuesday, the Woodland Trust charity called for more trees to be grown near homes in the UK due to their cooling effect. It has been revealed that more than 11 million people in the UK live in areas where less than 10 per cent of land is shaded by trees, with low-income people most affected by this situation. According to the report, England has one of the lowest levels of tree cover in Europe, with an average tree cover of 17.5%. Only a third of people in English towns and cities have the recommended minimum level of tree cover.

The RTPI report did not consider whether air conditioning would be provided. It was found that while 99% of local plans included green infrastructure, only 27% used the “green area factor”. This is a tool recognized as best practice by RTPI and which planners can use to ensure that building developments include sufficient green space and are used correctly.

A government spokesman said: “Our national building regulations and planning policy mean that all new-build homes and their surroundings must minimize unwanted heat, regardless of local plans; the homes of the future standard is designed to address energy efficiency.

“We are reviewing relevant building regulations to assess whether we can apply overheating rules to homes converted from commercial buildings.”