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Tenants in an east London glass\u2011fronted development say built\u2011in cooling did not work during recent heatwaves and that communal heat\u2011pump billing has left them exposed to higher, unpredictable charges \u2014 a problem campaigners say is widespread and under\u2011regulated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Residents of a glass\u2011fronted new\u2011build in east London say the promise of built\u2011in cooling has not been delivered consistently, leaving some flats uncomfortably hot during recent heatwaves and exposing a wider faultline in how modern developments handle summer temperatures. The Evening Standard reported that interiors reached about 30\u00b0C for prolonged periods, with tenants describing disrupted sleep, health worries and expensive ad\u2011hoc fixes such as bespoke blinds. According to the article, the developer and building manager say systems are working as designed and that contractors have fixed individual faults where identified. (standard.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n Buyers and renters told the paper they were explicitly assured by developers that cooling units and mechanical ventilation would protect homes year\u2011round. Speaking to the Evening Standard, one resident, Gareth Humphreys, said the cooling provision had been ineffective and inconsistent across the block. \u201cIt was 30 degrees inside the flat for pretty much the entire two weeks or so. It never dropped,\u201d he told the paper, adding that some neighbours had the promised cooling units while others did not. A Clarion Housing spokesperson told the Standard they had addressed units that were not working and were engaging with residents. (standard.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n The building\u2019s technical and billing arrangements have compounded the problem. Residents told the Standard the block is heated and cooled from communal heat pumps and billed via top\u2011up (prepayment-style) meters rather than by individual gas boilers \u2014 a setup that, they say, leaves them exposed to higher and less predictable charges. The article reports a blunt resident observation: \u201cyou pay a lot more than you would if you had a boiler in your property.\u201d That experience is consistent with consumer guidance showing heat networks can charge by metered consumption plus standing charges, often using prepayment or top\u2011up arrangements, and are not ordinarily covered by Ofgem\u2019s domestic price cap. (standard.co.uk<\/a>, moneysavingexpert.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n Campaign groups and consumer bodies warn this is not an isolated quirk but a structural gap in consumer protection. Heat Trust has repeatedly highlighted that hundreds of thousands of households on communal or district heating remain excluded from the domestic price cap and other emergency support, and that operators buying fuel on the commercial market can set tariffs that run well above capped domestic rates. Heat Trust has documented cases in which bills reached many pence per kilowatt hour and has called for urgent regulation to prevent excessive pricing and unfair retrospective billing. (heattrust.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n The problem of retrospective or \u201creconciliation\u201d billing \u2014 where operators recalculated historic charges after moving to higher commercial rates and then attempted to recover the difference from residents \u2014 has already emerged in several developments, according to Guardian reporting. Tenants at some schemes were told past bills would be rebilled at the new tariff, in some cases amounting to significant sums and prompting legal and regulatory complaints. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has said it is working to introduce rules to prevent unfair back\u2011billing, and Ofgem is scheduled to bring heat networks into its regulatory remit, but campaigners say timetables are slow and interim protections are urgently needed. (theguardian.com<\/a>, heattrust.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n Beyond billing, the economics of heat pumps themselves complicate the picture. Public spending watchdogs and consumer\u2011facing outlets have warned that heat pumps \u2014 which run on electricity rather than gas \u2014 can be costly to buy and, depending on electricity prices, expensive to run. The National Audit Office and related reporting have found high upfront installation costs, limited consumer awareness and underperforming grant schemes have all slowed adoption, meaning many households may not see the promised long\u2011term savings and could face higher running costs in the short term. This helps explain residents\u2019 complaints that communal heat\u2011pump systems can feel both inefficient in winter and expensive in summer if operators pass commercial electricity prices through to users. (thisismoney.co.uk<\/a>, ft.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n Some policy changes have improved fairness for conventional prepayment electricity and gas customers: the government removed the so\u2011called \u201cprepayment premium\u201d from 1 July 2023 so that households on pay\u2011as\u2011you\u2011go meters on mainstream energy supply no longer pay more on average than direct\u2011debit customers. However, that change does not automatically protect people on privately operated heat networks. MoneySavingExpert and other consumer guides note that many heat networks use bespoke top\u2011up or internal metering arrangements and sit outside the protections that apply to typical supplier\u2011customer contracts regulated by Ofgem, meaning those residents remain exposed even after the prepayment reforms. (gov.uk<\/a>, moneysavingexpert.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n What the Leaside Lock case and others around the country illustrate is a collision between modern construction, climate change and current regulatory gaps. New builds are increasingly well insulated for winter, which is positive for energy bills and decarbonisation, but without adequate design for shading, through\u2011ventilation and summer cooling they can become ovens in heatwaves. Experts and the Climate Change Committee have urged the government to rebalance building standards and planning guidance to address overheating alongside winter efficiency, and consumer groups say regulation of heat networks must be accelerated so that residents have clearer rights on billing, switching and complaints. In the meantime, tenants and owners in affected blocks are left to manage higher bills and uncomfortable, sometimes unsafe, living conditions. (standard.co.uk<\/a>, theguardian.com<\/a>, moneysavingexpert.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n Until the regulatory framework catches up, practical steps would reduce harm: clearer upfront disclosure by developers about how communal heating and cooling are supplied and billed; independent testing and certification of cooling systems before handover; tighter limits on retrospective billing; and faster introduction of Ofgem regulation or an interim price safeguard for heat\u2011network customers. Heat Trust and consumer advisers continue to press for those protections so that the promise of low\u2011carbon communal heating does not translate into poorer comfort and higher costs for the people who live in those homes. (heattrust.org<\/a>, moneysavingexpert.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n\ud83d\udccc Reference Map:<\/h3>\n
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