Rental Properties and the Heatwave
As the UK experiences more frequent and more prolonged periods of extreme heat, landlords and letting agents are increasingly having to think seriously about how well their properties perform in warm weather — something that has traditionally received far less attention than winter preparedness. Where a burst pipe or a failed boiler was once the typical emergency call, an unbearably hot flat in July is now just as likely to prompt an anxious message from a tenant, and agencies that treat heat as a genuine housing condition issue, rather than simply “the weather”, tend to manage the summer season considerably more smoothly.
This shift reflects both a changing climate and changing tenant expectations. Public health messaging around the risks of overheating — particularly for older people, young children, pregnant tenants and those with existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions — has become far more prominent following recent extreme summers, and the UK Health Security Agency now issues formal heat-health alerts in the same way it issues cold-weather alerts. For letting agents managing a mixed portfolio, this means overheating can no longer be treated as an occasional nuisance; it needs to sit alongside damp, cold and disrepair as a routine part of seasonal property management.
What tends to go wrong in a heatwave
Properties with poor cross-ventilation heat up quickly and struggle to cool overnight, particularly where windows only open on a single elevation.
Roof spaces and top-floor flats are especially prone to overheating, since heat rises and older roof insulation was typically specified to retain warmth rather than manage summer gain.
Tenants frequently report difficulty sleeping in bedrooms that retain daytime heat well into the evening, which can have a genuine impact on wellbeing and health over a sustained hot spell.
Older, solid-wall properties without cavity insulation can perform poorly in both directions — losing heat rapidly in winter and absorbing it readily in summer.
South- and west-facing rooms with large, unshaded windows can become uncomfortably warm by mid-afternoon, even with windows fully open.
Properties let to tenants who are elderly, very young, pregnant, or living with a relevant health condition carry a higher risk profile and warrant closer attention during a heat-health alert.
Why this matters
A decade ago, a hot week in summer was generally treated as a temporary inconvenience that tenants simply tolerated. Attitudes have shifted considerably, and tenants are now far more likely to raise overheating as a genuine concern, sometimes citing workplace temperature guidance or expecting a response proportionate to how seriously a cold or damp complaint would be treated.
It is also worth remembering that the standard repairing obligations landlords owe are generally concerned with disrepair — a failure of an installation or structure — rather than with a property's inherent design performance. A landlord cannot be forced to install air conditioning or otherwise improve a property's summer performance simply because it was designed that way. Where a specific fault is contributing to the problem, however — a stuck-open extractor fan, broken trickle vents, or windows that no longer open properly — that is a disrepair issue in its own right, and one that should be logged and addressed through the normal repairs process rather than left to resolve itself once the weather cools.
Simple & Practical steps
Encouraging tenants to use blinds or curtains during the day, ensure trickle vents remain open, and make use of any cross-ventilation the property offers can make a noticeable difference at negligible cost. Where a property has a documented history of overheating complaints, it is worth reviewing whether additional shading or ventilation improvements are genuinely practical, rather than simply repeating the same seasonal advice each year with no change in outcome. Options worth considering, in rough order of cost, include:
External or internal shading solutions for particularly exposed windows, such as reflective film, external blinds, or simple awnings.
Additional trickle vents or improved extractor provision, particularly in bedrooms and top-floor rooms.
Reflective or thermal blinds in bedrooms most affected by solar gain, which are inexpensive relative to their impact on sleep quality.
A short, friendly guidance note issued to tenants at the start of the summer season, ideally the same note referenced later in this series on ventilation and blinds.
For higher-risk tenants identified during check-in or routine inspection, a proactive check-in call during a UKHSA amber or red heat-health alert, mirroring the sort of welfare check many agencies already carry out during severe cold snaps.
The Statutory and Regulatory
Excess heat is formally recognised as one of the housing hazards assessed under the new framework of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Where excess heat is identified as a Category 1 hazard — most likely in a property with particularly poor ventilation or design, and where the occupier is especially vulnerable — a local authority has the power to serve an improvement notice requiring remedial works. In practice, formal enforcement action on overheating grounds alone remains relatively uncommon, but the Renters' Rights Act 2025's planned extension of a Decent Homes Standard into the private rented sector is expected to bring HHSRS-assessed hazards, including excess heat, into sharper focus over the coming years. Agents should treat a recurring pattern of overheating complaints in a particular property as worth investigating properly and documenting, rather than dismissing it as simply the weather.
It is also worth distinguishing overheating complaints from the broader implied obligation under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which requires a rented property to be fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy. Where overheating is severe, persistent, and connected to an identifiable defect — rather than simply a hot summer — a tenant may in principle argue the property is unfit, so it is sensible to keep a clear paper trail showing what was investigated and what action, if any, was taken.