While nearly all English councils say they intend to include green infrastructure in new housing developments \u2013 such as trees that can cool streets or provision of access to waterways \u2013 only about a quarter of them use a recognised tool that would ensure this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a matter of life and death,\u201d said Celia Davis, interim director of operations at the TCPA. \u201cWe need to avoid building death traps.\u201d<\/p>\n
She warned that although many local authorities had high aims for dealing with heat, this was not always borne out in practice. \u201cThere is a gap between what they say they want and what they achieve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The RTPI report<\/a>, entitled Local Plans and the Climate Crisis, used AI to assess local plans from English councils, including those already adopted and those still under consideration. While the authors acknowledged that the use of AI was \u201cexperimental\u201d in such a report and had the potential to result in some inaccuracies, the RTPI said it was confident that the method gave a broadly reliable picture.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, ministers unveiled the \u201cfuture homes standard\u201d<\/a>, a new set of regulations that will govern how houses are built from 2028, and which includes provisions for keeping homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer. But the standard will not apply to buildings such as schools, hospitals and care homes. The rules, which do not require new homes to have the louvres and shutters recommended by experts to block out heat, may also be insufficient to stop overheating, planning experts told the Guardian.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future homes standard is not enough because you also have to consider the surrounding area,\u201d said Dan Slade, head of research and practice at the RTPI. \u201cIf there are not enough trees or shading or green space, that will affect the heat these homes experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Slade also pointed out that \u201cpermitted development rights\u201d also allowed for dwellings to be built from converted offices without the regulations that apply to other homes. \u201cMany of these are glass boxes that can easily overheat<\/a>,\u201d he said. A survey in London found 14% of such homes, of which there are about 120,000 already, had no windows that could be opened.<\/p>\n The Woodland Trust charity, in a separate report published on Tuesday, also called for more trees to be grown near housing in the UK for their cooling effect<\/a>. It found more than 11 million people in the UK are living in areas where less than 10% of land gets shade from trees, with people on low incomes worst affected. England has one of the lowest tree canopy levels in Europe, according to the report, with the average tree cover at 17.5%. Only a third of people in English towns and cities enjoy tree cover<\/a> at the minimum recommended levels.<\/p>\n
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