Sheffield council tenant calls for "immediate" action on tower block overheating
A Sheffield high-rise council flat tenant and housing campaigner says “immediate” action needs to be taken to deal with overheating in tower blocks.
Peter MacLoughlin, who lives in the Robertshaw block in Netherthorpe, said that overheating makes flats unbearable in hot weather.
Mr MacLoughlin said that he didn’t have a thermometer to record how hot it got in his flat during the June heatwave.
“However, a neighbour with an old thermometer recorded between 35°C and 37°C inside their flat, and it was even hotter in the lift hallway,” he said.
“These exceptionally high temperatures are due to direct sunlight entering the flats: east-facing during the mornings, and west- and south-facing during the afternoons.”
Mr MacLoughlin wrote to Paul Fletcher, council assistant director for building safety and compliance.
Cladding
He said: “Historic evidence suggests past council refurbishment programmes mandated external cladding systems primarily to boost Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings and update external appearances, rather than fixing deep-seated structural issues.
“By installing this cladding and insulation improperly and without adequate ventilation, the council has ignored the fundamental physics of heat.
“Instead of creating healthy homes, these retrofits trap solar heat, leading to dangerous solar gain where temperatures routinely exceed safe human limits.
“This trapped internal heat is heavily worsened by poorly-insulated district heating pipes. Bare or badly-lagged pipes constantly radiate excess heat into communal corridors and individual flats, turning our tower blocks into year-round ovens.
“Furthermore, the drive to improve fire safety by adding compartmentation throughout communal areas and between flats limits natural airflow, exacerbating the trapped heat and increasing the risk of overheating.”
He added: “Severe, year-round overheating forces tenants to resort to expensive, inefficient cooling appliances, worsening the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Wellbeing
“More importantly, this environment jeopardises tenants’ medical wellbeing.
“Vulnerable tenants and leaseholders – including the elderly, those with respiratory illnesses, and young children – face genuine risks of dehydration, heat exhaustion and worsening chronic health conditions.
“The council’s ongoing delays in acknowledging and rectifying these systemic thermal and fire safety flaws are unacceptable.
“We will not tolerate repeated excuses regarding the costs or complexities of remediation when the physical and medical safety of tenants and leaseholders is on the line.”
Mr MacLoughlin said immediate action must be taken for the council to comply with the Building Safety Act 2022 and its own housing quality improvement plan.
Insulation
He suggested upgrading district heating pipe insulation in corridors, fitting mechanical ventilation or air cooling in flats and checking fire safety compartmentalisation plans to ensure not to block airflow.
A council respOnse said: “We understand the frustrations of residents dealing with the extreme heat experienced recently in their homes and the concerns they may have. “Our housing, building safety and repairs teams do everything they can to deal with issues that arise across our large and varied housing portfolio. “Unfortunately, we can’t provide specific details on causes and solutions relating to each case while they are still being worked on, but will make details available when we have agreed solutions with tenants.
“We always welcome our tenants informing us of issues that affect their living conditions so that we can work on finding a solution for them.
“If any of our tenants have concerns, we urge them to make our housing officers aware so that we can start working towards a suitable solution.”