Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2022 to Question 46163 on Social Rented Housing: Air Conditioning, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that social housing built before June 2022 is retrofitted to enable passive cooling.

The Government has committed to consider overheating and indoor air quality risks when developing policies to future-proof buildings and continues to undertake relevant research.

Work carried out under current Government retrofit schemes, including the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), must be carried out by a certified installer in accordance with PAS 2035 to ensure that risks, including overheating and ventilation risks, are considered.

The Decent Homes Standard (DHS) already contains certain protections against overheating. The government has committed to review the DHS to ensure that it meets present minimum standards on safety and decency for the social and private rented sectors.