Housing White Paper – Overheating?

The long awaited Housing White Paper was published on 7th February 2017. We are pleased to note that the Government is consulting on proposals to amend the list of climate change factors set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to include rising temperatures. Over time this would result in more consideration of overheating at planning stage.

These requirements form part of a wider drive in the White Paper to improve the quality of new build homes, including a review of current energy performance standards.

The NPPF already makes it clear that local authorities must set policies to ensure new development is planned in such a way to avoid vulnerability to climate change. With rising temperatures potentially added to the list of climate change factors, this would place an onus on local planning authorities to support measures for the future resilience of communities and development, and which would likely include a greater use of Overheating Assessments.

Overheating risk is an increasingly common problem, and one that can be compounded by increasing air tightness and fabric energy efficiency standards. Considering it at planning stage can ensure that any risk is appropriately mitigated through passive design measures and ensures resident comfort through the development lifetime.