One in three homes in France is so poorly insulated it turns into a “boiler” during heatwaves, says the NGO La Fondation pour le Logement. The group found that 3,700 people died in France last summer because of extreme heat.
French MPs from seven political parties want to fix the problem. They plan to submit a bill to the National Assembly to tackle what the Foundation calls a “social, ecological and health emergency”.
In the northern suburbs of Paris, Yasmine and her husband live on the 13th floor of an 18-storey building. Their flat is like a “boiler” because it is badly insulated.
“It’s very hot in here. We sweat a lot, so we take at least five showers a day,” Yasmine told told RFI.
“The sun comes directly into the apartment and we don’t have shutters, so we’re forced to put up blackout curtains to get a bit of shade inside,” she said.
She added that the air is very stifling. “Right now it’s 30C. But if it’s 40C outside, it’ll be 42C or even 43C inside.”
A heatwave in Europe last year killed nearly 50,000 people, the study found.
The foundation says it has warned for three years about homes that become uninhabitable for weeks each year because of extreme heat.
Heat caused nearly 50,000 deaths in Europe last year, study finds
New bill
Maïda Olivier, who works on climate and housing policy at the foundation, said many buildings do not have proper shutters.
“The building is part of the 40 percent of housing in France that doesn’t have proper shutters,” Olivier said.
“With this law, this woman, if she is a tenant, will be able to demand that her landlord install sun protection, whether it’s a private or public landlord.”
“And the law will also provide financial assistance to encourage landlords to implement these types of solutions,” she said.
People living in low-income neighbourhoods are among the most exposed to overheating homes.
The proposed law includes a year-round ban on cutting off electricity so no one is left unable to use a fan. It will also require the “summer comfort” score from the energy performance certificate to be shown in all housing ads.
