London Assembly calls for mayoral plan to reduce heat-related deaths in social homes

The London Assembly’s planning and regeneration committee has called on the mayor to create a plan to reduce heat-related deaths in social homes.

In its latest report published this week, the group set out a series of recommendations that can be implemented in the planning processes for new developments.

This follows research by the group from March this year reporting that an estimated 75% of London’s social homes are considered high risk of overheating, which could place one million children at risk. 

As part of the recommended measures, the committee called on the mayor to publish a roadmap for reducing heat-related deaths, for example by accelerating the retrofitting of existing homes with shutters, shading and improved ventilation.

The group also said the government should protect London’s ability to set higher overheating standards than national requirements,

It called on the Greater London Authority (GLA) to review its “cooling hierarchy” to ensure it “reflects the increasing role that active cooling (e.g. air conditioning) will need to play as London’s climate changes”.

“Passive cooling should continue to be prioritised, but the hierarchy should also support the appropriate use of efficient active cooling technologies,” said the committee.

It also urged the GLA to explore new public awareness measures, such as naming heatwaves, to improve public understanding of heat risks.

James Small-Edwards, chair of the planning and regeneration committee, said: “Current trends suggest that heatwaves exceeding 40 degrees are now 20 times more likely than they were in the 1960s, and yet London’s homes have not adapted to this new reality.”

The 2022 heatwaves claimed 387 lives in London.