public attitudes, awareness
5.5 Protecting the home from hot weather
Preparing one’s home inside and out can help reduce the degree of overheating during periods of hot weather. For example, white external walls can reflect heat, (the right type of ) roof/loft and cavity wall insulation can reduce overheating during hot
weather, as can external shutters on south facing windows (Porritt et al., 2012). We asked participants whether their home had any of the following characteristics which can offer protection during hot summers:
• Roof or loft insulation
• Cavity wall insulation
• A ceiling fan in any room
• Shaded areas outside the home (such as awnings or trees)
• External shutters on any windows
• White external walls
They were also asked whether they were able to keep their main living space at home, and their bedroom, cool during hot weather. This can be particularly important for vulnerable (especially older) people who are often home during the hottest parts of the day (Porritt et al., 2012).
As shown in Table 5.14, overall, roof insulation was the most common home
characteristic, mentioned by three in four (75.5%) participants, followed by cavity wall insulation and having shaded areas outside, mentioned by half of participants (52.4%
and 49.6% respectively). None of the other characteristics were very common. It is encouraging that a considerable majority of participants felt that they could keep their main living space (84.9%) and bedroom (72.3%) cool during hot weather.
Looking at these housing characteristics among vulnerable groups (Table 5.14), there is a different picture according to age. Participants aged 75+ were more likely than average to have several of these characteristics, such as roof/loft and cavity wall insulation; they were also more likely to say that could keep their bedroom cool in hot weather. However, those aged 18-74 with a LLSI or in bad health were less likely to have roof/loft insulation and a shaded outside area, and they were also less likely to say they could keep their living space or bedroom cool in hot weather.
Table 5.14 Home characteristics for vulnerable groups
Roof/loft
Aged 18-74 74.7 51.5 10.3 48.8 3.4 19.6 8.2 84.3 71.2
Aged 75+ 85.8 63.9 14.8 59.0 3.4 18.5 2.9 91.7 86.2
Aged 75+ and
living alone 84.4 69.1 12.1 56.3 5.0 31.6 6.3 96.7 87.8
Aged 18-74
no LLSI 76.7 51.5 10.9 50.8 3.1 19.0 7.3 85.7 71.7
Aged 18-74
with LLSI 64.2 51.7 7.1 37.9 5.2 22.6 13.3 76.5 68.5
Aged 18-74 in
good/fair health 76.2 51.0 10.5 50.0 3.4 19.6 8.0 85.6 72.4
Aged 18-74 in
bad health 60.0 56.3 8.4 36.5 3.0 18.8 10.2 71.2 59.3
Some of these differences in home characteristics are explained by differences in tenure, as participants aged 75+ were more likely to be home owners and less likely to be private renters, while those aged 18-74 with LLSI or in bad health were much less likely to be a home owner and much more likely to rent from a local authority (LA) or housing association (HA). And there were significant differences in home characteristics by tenure, as shown in Figure 5.11.
Participants who owned their own home were the most likely to have at least one of the home characteristics asked about, and were the most likely to have roof/
loft insulation, a shaded area outside and, along with those renting from a housing association, cavity wall insulation. Those renting privately were the least likely to have any of these items (18.1% had none) and were much less likely to report having roof/
loft or cavity wall insulation. (Of course, this could be partly due to a lower awareness among renters about the characteristics of their dwelling.)
There were also variations by other socio-demographic variables. Although this didn’t apply to all the home characteristics, for many of them, older participants were the most likely to report having them, and younger participants, especially those in the 25-44 age range, were the least likely (Figure 5.12); for example, 85.8% of those aged 75+ reported having roof/loft insulation compared with only 60.8% of those aged 25-34, which is largely a reflection of their tenure, with younger people much more likely to be private renters.
Figure 5.11 Home characteristics, by tenure
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Roof insulation Cavity wall insulation Ceiling fan Shaded area External shutters
Owner Rent from LA Rent from HA Rent private White external walls
None of these Cool living space Cool bedroom
Among the older participants in the focus groups, most said that they were able to keep their homes relatively cool during the summer months, and several said that they had cool parts of their home where they were able move to if they felt hot. Participants discussed the importance of adequate insulation to protect their homes, but most said that they felt their homes did not get too hot during the summer, particularly as periods of very hot weather did not last long.
Figure 5.12 Home characteristics, by age group
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Cavity wall insulation
Ceiling fan
Shaded area
External shutters
White external walls
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+
None of these
Cool living space
Cool bedroom Roof insulation
Table 5.15 shows there were also differences by other socio-demographic variables, such as ethnicity, with Black participants much more likely than White participants to say they had none of these six characteristics (27.2% and 6.4% respectively). Asian participants were by far the most likely to have external shutters (19.4% compared with the average of 3.4%).
There were also some stark differences by region: for example, only 54.8% of participants in London reported having roof/loft insulation compared with 88.9% of those in the North East.
Table 5.15 Home characteristics, by socio-demographics
Roof/loft
25-34 60.8 42.5 10.7 44.4 6.2 23.0 13.3 77.3 72.6 186
35-44 72.9 49.6 7.3 39.2 2.8 19.3 11.8 80.9 66.0 328
White 78.6 54.4 10.4 51.5 2.0 18.8 6.4 84.7 71.2 1751
Black 47.1 38.2 11.8 36.6 - 45.3 27.2 85.1 92.1 33
Asian 58.3 39.9 10.7 35.5 19.4 20.2 14.3 86.2 76.1 62
Mixed/Other 54.3 39.0 17.6 43.4 8.1 8.5 14.4 88.3 76.0 32
Region
North East 88.9 73.2 12.9 49.3 3.5 31.8 3.7 94.9 87.4 91
North West 80.4 54.5 7.3 43.0 1.1 14.4 7.8 85.7 68.7 255
Yorkshire &
The Humber 72.2 53.3 7.3 52.8 4.1 12.7 11.7 80.5 69.5 178
East Midlands 77.6 51.2 14.2 52.7 0.8 11.7 4.5 82.1 63.9 203
West Midlands 85.7 63.8 16.9 50.8 2.8 18.9 4.7 82.5 74.2 186
East of
England 72.4 55.3 9.1 46.9 1.3 21.1 4.9 90.3 74.8 224
London 54.8 31.8 9.1 46.2 7.4 22.6 16.9 78.2 71.9 185
South East 79.0 55.0 15.3 54.0 4.2 19.6 3.3 86.2 70.7 341
South West 82.8 52.2 5.0 52.3 3.3 27.1 9.0 89.7 78.3 215
Urban/rural
Urban 72.6 50.5 11.5 47.2 3.6 19.7 9.1 84.0 73.5 1352
Rural 88.7 61.3 6.7 60.1 2.5 18.6 2.0 89.0 67.1 426
Highest educational qualification Degree or
higher 74.9 50.4 10.1 54.6 4.2 21.8 9.3 86.2 73.0 742
A level or
equivalent 76.6 53.3 11.6 54.2 4.3 18.1 5.8 88.3 71.3 404
Other below
A level 78.3 52.4 10.5 40.0 2.6 15.2 7.1 79.3 68.1 383
Other
qualifications 77.5 55.0 11.8 53.3 3.2 25.2 9.3 82.0 77.3 146
None 70.3 54.7 10.0 43.2 1.4 19.7 7.7 86.6 76.1 201