Searches for homes with air conditioning in the UK have more than doubled this summer, as repeated heatwaves prompt buyers to pay greater attention to how well properties can stay cool.Property portal Rightmove recorded a 104% rise in searches for homes with air conditioning between May 1 and July 31, compared with the same period last year, according to The Independent.The increase comes as temperatures across parts of England reached 38C during the UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer.Rightmove’s consumer research also found that 87% of people consider a property’s ability to stay cool important when choosing their next home.While only 12% said they had already installed air conditioning, 61% said they would consider doing so, The Guardian reported.“While location, space and affordability remain key priorities, our research suggests that people are paying closer attention to how comfortable a home will be during hotter weather,” Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock said, according to The Guardian.“Many households are already making practical changes to keep cool, while others are factoring these considerations into their next move,” she added.
Heatwaves change what buyers look for
The shift comes as the UK experiences increasingly frequent periods of extreme heat. Temperatures reached 38.1C at Kew Gardens on Thursday. The day set a new record for the number of days above 36C in a single year.The UK’s hottest day on record remains July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40C.The changing weather is also raising concerns about the ability of Britain’s housing stock to cope with hotter summers. A report published by the UK’s Climate Change Committee in May warned that 92% of existing homes could overheat by 2050 as heatwaves become hotter.Passive measures such as opening windows and drawing curtains may not be sufficient in many homes under future climate conditions.An estimated 4 million UK homes now have air conditioning, twice as many as three years ago. The increase has partly been linked to the rise in working from home, which has left more people spending daytime hours in their homes during periods of extreme heat.Estate agents are also seeing buyers assess features beyond air conditioning itself, including ventilation, glazing, natural shade, orientation and energy costs.James Waight, head of sales at John D Wood & Co, said a property that can remain cool in summer while retaining heat during winter was “no longer simply a nice-to-have but an important factor in the decision to buy a property”, according to The Guardian.Ian Harris, president of NAEA Propertymark, said buyers were increasingly considering “comfort and liveability” alongside traditional factors such as location, space and price.
Cooling demand comes with an energy cost
The growing interest in air conditioning comes with a broader question over the energy use associated with keeping homes cool.Air conditioning is energy-intensive and accounts for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.For comparison, at least 90% of households in the US and Japan have air conditioning, while fewer than a quarter of households across Europe are estimated to have it.The cost of installing cooling systems can also be significant. Air-conditioning specialist Debonair Cooling told The Guardian that systems cost about £2,500 per room, with demand coming from owners of both period properties and new-build homes.The company said some households were struggling with sleep during heatwaves, while loft conversions could become particularly hot, with some loft rooms reaching temperatures of 50C.Meanwhile, some UK households with heat pumps are using the systems to cool their homes as well as heat them, potentially increasing demand for the technology.The shift in buyer priorities comes against a subdued wider housing market. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found a net balance of 28% of property professionals reporting a decline in new buyer inquiries in July, unchanged from June.Despite that weakness, the growing focus on cooling suggests that Britain’s hotter summers are beginning to influence not just how people live in their homes, but also what they are willing to buy.
