Temp accommodation unsafe - baby overheating - what can I do

[yoghurttops]

I’ve been renting for years, but after my landlord decided to sell a year ago, I was evicted and just can’t afford anything on the private market.

We have a baby, and so received help from the council. Me and my partner do work, but we have been looking for better paying jobs for almost 2 years now.

The council have put us in temp housing, it’s on the 20th floor and the heat is absolutely awful! The aircon/heating system is controlled centrally and so I have zero control over it. The flat feels like an oven and the windows all have a plastic barrier with about 3mm gaps which let air in, but it’s just not enough. We get zero fresh air.

My baby has overheated about 3 times in this hot weather - once he was sick and threw everything up - the other times he is drowsy. In the past we have had to take him to A&E for not waking up without a prick from the nurse.

I don’t know what to do - who to complain to. My housing officer won’t help and doesn’t answer my emails and I am on stage 2 of a formal complaint via the housing ombudsman but the responses take weeks!

The building has negative reviews on Google and Housing websites - the lifts never work, it’s too hot and I am so so scared for my babies health. I can’t believe people are housed here.

Why can I do - I so wish I could afford to privately rent.

I saw that it is illegal to not live in the council flat - I want to stay with a friend for a while, at least until the weather cools down.

AIBU to leave the flat for a while - what do I need to do? Get council permission first? Can I ask them to move me on health grounds?

Longer term, maybe you should move out of London?

Go out early on and buy ice blocks (or make them / freeze water bottles if you have a freezer). Put them out in the hottest room. They will lower the temperature. Even better if there is a fan blowing air behind them.

I’m sorry OP. It sounds terrible. I would also stay with a friend in particularly hot weather if your partner can stay in the place.

The uk has a lot of housing that is really uncomfortable in hot weather but we only get a coupleof weeks a year like this so it's not worth having cooling systems or adaptions that are common in hot countries.

It's fine for you to go and visit a friend for a few days. It would be wrong to leave the flat empty for a long time but the heat wave won't last long.

Taping reflective tin foil to the windows cuts down the heat buildup but you do then have a very dark room

Electric fans to create a breeze and moistening the skin with an ice-cold cloth.

Cooling gel mats are widely available for under £10 and they are great at cooling you down

I’m in Australia. I used to live in a house share. One summer I couldn’t open the back doors to the house I lived in and the house was like an oven. I installed curtains, bought a portable (refrigerated) aircon unit and designed a Perspex window that would slot in part of the window frame and allow the hot air to vent outside.

Just move in with your friend during the heatwave. I highly doubt anyone is going to be watching your comings and goings and report you for doing this.

Go to Ikea, Macdonalds, M&S, prowling around from place to place to stay cool. Spend the minimum time at home as you can.

I’m so sorry- we aren’t set up for heat. It just wasn’t an issue when our housing was built.

I assume you know the routine with closing windows and blinds on the hot side of the apartment, and using fans on the cold part?

My dc and I suffer from heat, and wear wet scarves around our neck. It cools the blood. Can you find something safe that’s similar for your baby?

Talk to Citizen's Advice as well as local MP - details on their website

I live ‘up north’. We also have a housing crisis here!

Get a couple of fans. Supermarkets or argos normally have cheap ones.

This sounds absolutely abysmal OP and my own child has overheated in similar circumstances but I was fortunate enough to move back in with family.

For full transparency the rest of this message was written by ChatGPT but I do find it can be useful in collating useful next steps guides.

Here are a few things you can do urgently:

1. Get medical backing immediately

Speak to your GP or Health Visitor and explain everything — the heat, the overheating episodes, the hospital visits. Ask them to write a letter stating that your current accommodation is putting your baby’s health at serious risk. This kind of medical evidence can strengthen your case for an emergency move.

1. Escalate within the council

Ask to speak to a housing duty officer or manager and clearly say: “This is a safeguarding issue. My baby is being repeatedly hospitalised due to the heat in this flat. We need to be moved urgently on medical and welfare grounds.”

Put everything in writing email them with the dates of overheating, A&E visits, and lack of response from your housing officer.

1. Contact your MP

Your MP can advocate on your behalf and often gets quicker responses from councils. You can find them here: members.parliament.uk/members/commons Send them a clear summary of what's happening and the danger your baby is in.

1. Call Shelter (housing charity)

They’re brilliant and deal with this kind of thing every day. 📞 0808 800 4444 (free) 🌐 england.shelter.org.uk They can support you in requesting an emergency move or even help challenge the suitability of your accommodation.

1. It's not illegal to stay elsewhere temporarily

If you stay with a friend for a few days or weeks due to health risks, you won’t lose your council flat, especially if you let them know:

“Due to extreme heat and health concerns, we will be temporarily staying with a friend while continuing to treat the flat as our main residence.”

Put this in an email to cover yourself.

1. Keep a detailed log

Write down every overheating episode, hospital trip, and email you’ve sent. Save everything. It helps with complaints, MPs, and Ombudsman cases.

As a short term measure, could you manage to get something like this tiny air cooler for the baby's sleeping area?

When we lived in Texas, we hung wet sheets over the doors to cool down.

I think in the immediate term your priority is to cool your home/child. What have you done so far? Have you got fans, covered the windows, thought about portable AC? Some good suggestions on this thread. Also think about spending as much time in a nice air conditioned cafe/library etc.
For gods sake turn off the humidifier you are making things worse.
Getting all the necessary ammunition for the housing officer is your second priority. Have you taken the temperature in the flat? Got the reports from your trips to A&E? Contacted shelter?
Also is there a family member who could take the baby for a couple of nights?

Having picked up my eldest from 6th floor uni accommodation at weekend with window restricters, I can't imagine how hot it is for you. Uni room was 35+ and going down to only 32 at night. Unbearable.

Im so sorry x

Sorry OP to detail for a minute but I think this poster is' very naive to believe most people living in very hot countries have Aircon or properly built infrastructure. Over 2 Billion people don't have access to clean water let alone aircon.

OP that doesn't detract from how awful it sounds. Can you afford an air con unit? They are quite expensive (around £300) or an Aircon fan (around £70). Make sure you keep shutting the curtains whenThe sun hits them.

Hope you manage to get out eventually
.

I agree about the humidifier

Not naive at all, thanks; was referring to comparable situations.

People with no access to wells can't be compared to those who are said to be adequately housed with their infant, by London authorities.

Reflective blankets over the windows are really good, I second this

sympathy from me too - it’s really hard in this heat. Water sprayed/misted on your skin cools you down quite well - you can buy an Evian water spray made for this but I just use one of those refillable travel toiletry bottles and fill it from the tap - any spray botttle works

theres also this map from mayor of london’s offices showing places that are set up as cool shelters the public can use during the day
https://apps.london.gov.uk/cool-spaces/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Move out of London. You can’t afford to live there comfortably. Other parts of the country offer cooler temperatures, more space and less stress. Apply to be relocate north.

That sounds very difficult, being too hot can make simple stuff tiresome and exhausting .

Ive lived abroad and it would reach 42/43 degrees, thick curtains that you keep closed, open window as much as you can even with the safety latches, two stand up fans at angles in corners of room, a cold flannel wrung out and laid across my chest helped at night.

Famlies with newborns would fan them with a piece of dry fabric when the heat peaked in the middle of the day. I don't think staying with a friend for a week here or there wold be a problem.

Also in most countries I have lived in the world you would likely end up homeless or in a shelter if you are not working, have mo family support or dh. That’s just the way it is. You are responsible for yourself as an adult.

The air temp in London yesterday was close to 30 degrees - keep the windows shut, you’re just making the place hotter!

Our routine is keep all curtains and blinds shut when the sun is up - stop the solar gain. Windows shut as air outside hotter than inside. Once sun goes down and air temp drops (I stick my hand out to check the air actually feels cool) then windows open overnight. Repeat the next day.

Sure but not everywhere ‘up north’ and not on the scale of London. No need to take issue, I’m northern too and it wasn’t wild advice. It’s what councils themselves do when they can’t house people in London.

This. It's pointless now because you are where you are, but both having low paid jobs, living in rented accommodation in London and then adding a child in has got you to where you are .

So helpful to the OP right now.

Are you able to show us the plastic things on the windows that only allow the 8mm gap?