- Searches for UK homes with air conditioning have risen 104 per cent this summer.
- 87 per cent of people say keeping a home cool is important when choosing their next property.
- Around 4 million UK homes now have air conditioning, double the figure from three years ago.
British homebuyers have been trained to look for the same things: a good location, decent schools, easy transport links and enough space, for years. Now there is another question creeping into the property search: how hot does the house get in summer?
Searches on Rightmove for homes for sale with air conditioning have jumped 104 per cent this summer compared with the same period last year, as another run of heatwaves pushes temperatures in parts of England towards 38°C.
The shift is more than a spike in interest during a hot week. Rightmove's consumer research found that 87 per cent of people consider a home's ability to stay cool important when choosing their next property. Meanwhile, 61 per cent said they would consider installing air conditioning, although only 12 per cent already have it.
That leaves a sizeable gap between what buyers say they want and what is actually available.
Around 4 million UK homes now have air conditioning, twice as many as three years ago. Yet cooling remains far from standard in British housing, particularly compared with countries where hot summers have traditionally made air conditioning a normal part of home life.
The summer heat is entering the property checklist
The change could be particularly significant because Britain's housing stock was largely designed around keeping heat in, rather than keeping it out.
The Climate Change Committee warned in a May report that 92 per cent of existing UK homes could be at risk of overheating by 2050 as heatwaves become more severe. It said simple measures such as opening windows and closing curtains may not always be enough to keep homes at a safe temperature.
That could gradually change the way buyers assess properties.
A house with good insulation, shaded rooms, efficient ventilation or air conditioning may start to have an advantage over one that turns into an oven during a heatwave. For sellers, features that once barely merited a mention in a property listing could become more useful selling points.
Rightmove property expert Colleen Babcock reportedly said that location, space and affordability remained important, but buyers were paying more attention to how comfortable a property would be during hotter weather.
James Waight, head of sales at estate agent John D Wood & Co, reportedly said a property that could remain cool in summer while retaining heat in winter was becoming an important consideration rather than simply a desirable extra.
There are already signs of that changing behaviour beyond air conditioning itself. Earlier Rightmove analysis found that property listings were increasingly highlighting features such as ceiling fans, shade and homes described as airy following previous heatwaves.
For homeowners wanting to add air conditioning, however, the cost can be significant. Cooling specialist Debonair Cooling has previously said installations can cost around £2,500 per room, with loft conversions particularly difficult to keep cool.
Britain is slowly acquiring an American-style home feature
The shift also highlights how unusual Britain's relationship with air conditioning remains.
In the US and Japan, air conditioning is installed in at least 90 per cent of households, while fewer than a quarter of European homes are estimated to have it.
Britain's relatively mild climate has historically made widespread home cooling seem unnecessary. But the UK's hottest day on record reached 40°C in July 2022, and several of the country's warmest summers have occurred in recent years.
That is beginning to change the calculation.
Around 4 million homes already have air conditioning, with the growth in working from home thought to have helped demand as people spend more time in their houses during hot weather.
Heat pumps could also become part of the shift. Some systems can provide cooling as well as heating, giving homeowners another way to manage temperatures without installing a separate air-conditioning system.
There is an obvious environmental complication. Air conditioning is energy-intensive and accounts for around 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
So Britain faces an awkward property question as summers get hotter: will homes increasingly need energy-hungry cooling systems to remain comfortable, or will the housing market start rewarding properties that can stay cool without them?
For now, the Rightmove data suggests the heat is already changing what buyers look for. The British home may not have become an air-conditioned standard yet, but staying cool is starting to look less like a luxury and more like part of the property checklist.
