England risks building new ‘death traps’ as experts warn of overheating crisis

Planning experts are warning that England risks building a new generation of homes that can fatally overheat, what they call "death traps," unless the government tightens construction standards. The Guardian reports that research this week suggested around two thousand seven hundred people died in the May and June heatwaves across England and Wales. Yet only about half of the local plans being drawn up by councils require new buildings to include a cooling or ventilation strategy, according to findings from the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Town and Country Planning Association. The experts say vulnerable people face the greatest danger as heatwaves grow more frequent.

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