Public housing tenants in new units left without aircon over summer

Mr Richards had been relocated into the Gungahlin flat from his unit in Lyons as part of the government's relocation scheme.

"I was very happy when ACT Housing moved me," he said.

"They told me, 'Look, the building's only finished 12 months ago, six-star energy rated building, built to modern standards'."

There was one thing the apartment didn't have: air conditioning. But it did have a heater.

"What the ACT government needs to be doing is going, 'Okay, we've moved a whole bunch of people into new apartments that don't have individual cooling," Mr Richards said.

"You're just left to survive through stifling heat. You can't live in an environment like that, it's really unhealthy."

Mr Richards said he was worried about how more vulnerable public housing tenants in his complex were coping.

He said the government should install split systems in public housing units across the capital to help tenants deal with the heat.

An ACT government spokesman said the unit complex Mr Richards lives in wasn't built by ACT Housing.

He said the flat was bought from the private market as part of the government's Public Housing Renewal Taskforce's Expression of Interest process.

"Split systems became a standard in public housing builds contracted after mid-2018," the spokesman said.

But the flat had the legally required energy efficient electric heater and blinds.

"St Vincent de Paul has a program that will install thermally efficient curtains," the spokesman said.

He also pointed to a no interest loan program run by CARE Financial that would allow tenants to buy energy efficient split systems.

But, Mr Richards said policy needed to be changed to require cooling solutions.

"I don't believe they can just continue to wash their hands on that and say things like 'Oh, well, we didn't build it'," he said.

"Because my building is not the only one affected like this with public housing tenants in it, I know that much."

Mr Richards said even with the no interest loan, the quote for a new system came back to under $3000, an amount he said he'd only be able to pay off in three years.

Meanwhile, an ACT assembly estimates committee heard last week an ACT government program on helping low income households in financial stress reduce energy and water costs was "over subscribed".

Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur asked the environment directorate's sustainability programs senior director Ros Malouf if the Low Income Household Program was oversubscribed.

"It is," Ms Malouf said. "We support about 1500 lower income households per year."

The directorate's climate change group manager Gene McGlynn said a program to install solar panels for lower income households was also proving popular.

The Solar for Low Income Program gives those eligible for concession or pension cards a 50 per cent government rebate on the total cost of installing a solar system.

Mr McGlynn said the program had installed panels at 430 households since it was introduced in the 2016-17 budget, with 210 of those installations in the 2018-19 financial year.

The program was seeing 10 households per month.

"It's clear demand is out there," he said.