Around than three million people aged 65 and above are living in properties aged between 45 and 80 years old. These are properties which are most likely to overheat in a summer heatwave.
There are also more than three million people who are aged 65 and above living with cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and are statistically more likely to have their health impacted by a heatwave.
Millie Brown, senior evidence manager for homes at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “Climate change and heatwaves are here to stay [in the UK], but that does not mean that we should passively accept the damaging effects and assume increasing loss of life as inevitable.
“As a country we’re experiencing more extreme heat on a more regular basis throughout summer months, and this is only going to intensify in the future. We need to do more in terms of prevention and preparation in readiness for our changing climate, our growing ageing population, and our faltering housing stock. Inaction is not an option.”
A total of 4.5 million people have been so hot in their home that it has made them ill over the last 12 months, recent research from Warm this Winter showed.
That is nearly one in 10 people facing what has been dubbed as “hot house syndrome”, and the campaign group agreed with the Centre for Ageing Better that it is a result of poor housing stock in the UK.
Fiona Waters, a spokesperson for the Warm this Winter said: “Hot house syndrome is a real problem caused by the UK’s appalling housing stock and affects the poorest and the vulnerable the most. The same people who suffer from damp, mouldy homes in winter are stifled in summer when the sun comes out.
“That’s because the solutions to keep us warm in the colder weather are the same as keeping us cool in summer. Better insulation, ventilation and even heat pumps that can operate in a cooling mode can all help. But the public need financial support to upgrade their homes.”
Around one in six (15%) of all living rooms and one in five bedrooms (19%) in English homes overheat in summer.
National figures show that than 488,000 households headed by someone aged 65 and above report their home overheating, and a total of 1.9 million households have at least one room in their home which gets uncomfortably hot.
This puts pressure on the NHS. Figures from the Office for National Statistics released in 2022 show that warm weather caused an additional 12,000 hospital admissions each year since 2012.
Research also shows that people from minority ethnic households, babies as well as people living in mobile homes or high-rise buildings are also at heightened risk during a heatwave.
The Centre for Ageing Better is calling for greater support in helping people make improvements to their home which might make that property better suited to cope with extreme temperatures.
It urges the government to establish ‘good home hubs’ in local areas which would off advice on home repairs and adaptations, including where to find trusted tradespeople, identifying what work needs to be done, how to finance repairs and improve energy efficiency.
Brown said: “To help ensure that homes do not exacerbate the threat of heatwaves, we need a national housing strategy and a national network of ‘good home hubs’ to ensure people have better opportunities to improve their homes.”
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