More than a third of HLM tenants suffer from living in a “thermal kettle”

Too hot. Some 38% of social housing tenants suffered from the heat during the summer of 2024, according to a survey carried out by the National Social Housing Control Agency (Ancols) released this Tuesday. This summer discomfort is mainly linked to the presence of shutters and/or sunshades outside homes: “1 in 3 households with shutters and sunshades report suffering from the heat, compared to 1 in 2 among those without any such protection,” the study notes.

The inability to create drafts also degrades summer thermal comfort: 55% of households who live in this type of housing say they suffer from the heat. “By the same token, households living in a one-room apartment more frequently admit to having a temperature that is not pleasant in their home during heat waves,” adds Ancols. On the other hand, “summer discomfort is not linked to the year the housing was built”, unlike winter discomfort. Thermal colanders where it is cold in winter nevertheless tend to also be thermal kettles in summer.

The share of households reporting suffering from heat is naturally greater in the south of France: 51% along the Mediterranean rim, compared to 36% in the northern part, including Ile-de-France. And social housing tenants in certain overseas communities suffer even more from high temperatures: 74% of social housing households in Guyana say they suffer from the heat, 57% in Martinique and Guadeloupe, but 34% in Reunion Island. .