Searches for homes for sale in the UK with air conditioning have more than doubled this summer as heatwaves push staying cool up the list of priorities for homebuyers, alongside nearness to good schools and transport links.<\/p>\n
In the week of the UK\u2019s fifth heatwave, in which temperatures in parts of England hit 38C<\/a>, the property website Rightmove said the heat was influencing how Britons thought about their homes, with more people paying attention to how comfortable a property would be during hotter weather.<\/p>\n Searches on its site this summer for homes for sale with air conditioning were up 104% compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n The website also published consumer research showing that 61% of people said they would consider installing air conditioning, though only 12% had already done so. Meanwhile, 87% said that a property\u2019s ability to stay cool was important when choosing their next home.<\/p>\n A report published in May<\/a> by the UK\u2019s Climate Change Committee said hotter heatwaves could lead to 92% of existing homes overheating by 2050, adding that they may require air conditioning<\/a>. Passive measures such as drawing curtains and opening windows were unlikely to be enough.<\/p>\n An estimated 4m homes in the UK now have air conditioning<\/a>, double the figure from three years ago. The rise in working from home is thought to have fuelled demand.<\/p>\n Some of the UK\u2019s warmest summers have been in recent years, and the UK\u2019s hottest day was in July 2022, when temperatures hit 40C.<\/p>\n In May, the air conditioning specialist Debonair Cooling told the Guardian that owners of both period and new-build properties were enquiring about its cooling systems \u2013 which cost about \u00a32,500 per room. \u201cThey are struggling to sleep at night, or have children with breathing problems,\u201d it said, adding that loft conversions were also posing problems, with some loft rooms reaching highs of 50C.<\/p>\n In the US and Japan at least 90% of households<\/a> are said to have air conditioningwhereas for Europe as a whole it is estimated that fewer than a quarter have air conditioning.<\/p>\n