Health warning issued as more than 1 million children in UK living in overheated homes

Almost 1.6 million children in England, including more than 70,000 babies, now live in homes that regularly overheat, prompting campaigners to demand “urgent action” to ensure safe indoor temperatures.

The National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned that it is becoming “impossible” for parents to maintain comfortable living conditions for their families as the weather becomes increasingly hot.

This alarming situation is expected to worsen, with the Committee on Climate Change previously suggesting that up to 92 per cent of existing homes could eventually overheat.

They predict that by mid-century the UK’s climate will be “much more extreme than it is today”.

Charities and campaigners have spent the week highlighting the serious dangers of extreme heat for vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and young children, urging the public to take precautions as temperatures soar into the 30s.

But NHF chief executive Kate Henderson said it was “now clear that increasingly extreme heatwaves are making it impossible for parents to make their homes completely safe and comfortable, no matter what they do”, adding that steps such as drawing curtains to keep homes cool are no longer enough.

Nearly 1.59 million children live in homes that become uncomfortably hot, according to NHF and Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) analysis of the 2023 British Housing Survey.

Of these, 70,690 are under one year old.

A separate survey of 1,592 parents in England found seven in 10 said an overheated home disrupted their child’s sleep, while almost half (49%) said it affected their child’s ability to concentrate.

The NHF said a YouGov survey it commissioned showed the “significant impacts” of living in an overheated home on children’s quality of life.

Ms Henderson added: “These survey results show that overheating is already affecting large numbers of children, disrupting their sleep, harming their health and putting the youngest babies at particular risk.

“As heatwaves become more frequent and intense, we need urgent action to ensure homes can be kept at safe temperatures and are fit for the future. Housing associations are taking this seriously and are already building heat resilience into their homes, but they cannot do this alone.”

“We call on ministers to work with the sector on a comprehensive plan to tackle overheating in social housing and support homeowners to retrofit cooling measures at scale and pace.”

British Housing Survey figures cover all types of housing, not just social housing.

NHF and CIH said they wanted to highlight the risk to all homes and called on the Government to provide existing plans to improve overheating of social housing addresses.

CIH Chief Executive Gavin Smart said: “As our summers get hotter, the negative impacts on our health and education systems will continue to grow, with children’s education affected by disrupted sleep after spending all night in a bedroom so hot they can’t sleep.

“The ambition shown in the Government’s Warm Homes Plan is a necessary first step in the right direction, and we need to think carefully about whether the 1.5 million homes we aim to build in this parliament will be able to cope with the higher temperatures we will increasingly see in the future.

“CIH believes we need to strengthen building regulations around overheating and start considering policies that will support people with the energy costs of staying cool during future heatwaves.”

Associate professor of structural engineering at the University of Warwick. Reyes Garcia said homes in Britain were “looking more and more like ovens”.

He said: “The secret to surviving the coming summer months lies in rethinking how our homes are built and insulated all year round. We need to shift our focus from simply warming in winter to cooling in summer, so we can design homes that naturally resist heatwaves.”

Oxford University climate scientist Dr. Chloe Brimicombe said the UK infrastructure was “not ready for heat” and plans should include “prioritising cooling with heat pumps for the most vulnerable such as care homes, hospitals and education settings, designing heat safety policies with organizations and workers and understanding how heat increases and planning for this increase in water consumption.”

The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) advises that children may be at risk from hot weather due to their physiology, behavior and activity levels, and recommends cooling a child experiencing heat exhaustion by sponging or spraying cold water, placing a cold compress on the neck and armpits, or wrapping them in a cool, wet sheet and using a fan.

Parents are advised to call 999 if heatstroke is suspected.

The Government has been contacted for comment.