Online buyer searches for homes for sale featuring air conditioning have more than doubled during the late spring and summer months compared to last year.
Property portal Rightmove recorded a 104% increase in user searches across its website between May 1 and July 31, compared with the identical period from a year earlier.
The UK experienced its hottest day of the year so far on Thursday as temperatures soared to 38.1C in Kew Gardens.
Thursday also set a new record for the number of days above 36C in a single year.
Meanwhile, amber warnings for “extreme heat” came into force across parts of England, and a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in place for Northern Ireland.
Last week, Citizens Advice found that one in one in six Britons are taking “drastic action” to cope with heatwaves, including sleeping in kitchens, missing work, or booking hotels.
The charity warns millions across the UK are “trapped in homes they can’t cool”, with almost half (44%) feeling powerless to prevent their houses overheating.
The study attributes this struggle to poorly designed homes, which act as “heat traps”, and the high cost of cooling equipment such as air conditioning, leaving people helpless.
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “This summer’s heatwaves appear to be influencing how people think about their homes.”
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Mark Wiggin, director of Mark Wiggin Estate Agents, said: “Energy efficiency and a home’s ability to stay comfortable throughout the year have become much more important considerations when people are deciding where to live.”
James Waight, head of sales at John D Wood & Co said: “We are seeing buyers pay closer attention to air conditioning, ventilation and how well a home retains a comfortable temperature during warmer months.”
Ian Harris, president of NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Propertymark said: “Whilst air conditioning is clearly becoming a more visible feature on buyers’ wish lists, agents are seeing a broader shift in what people want from a home: comfort and liveability are increasingly being considered alongside traditional factors such as location, space and price.
“What is particularly interesting is that buyers are becoming more alert to how a property will perform in different conditions, rather than simply looking at individual features.
“Agents are increasingly fielding questions about ventilation, natural shade, glazing, orientation and energy costs, with buyers wanting to understand what living in a property will actually feel like throughout the year.
“This is an important change in buyer behaviour. As hotter summers become more familiar, the ability of a home to remain comfortable in warm weather is likely to become a more established consideration during viewings and valuations, rather than something buyers only think about once they have moved in.”
Conditions across the UK housing market remained subdued during July, with buyer demand and agreed sales displaying few indications of a significant recovery, according to surveyors.
A net balance of 28% of property professionals surveyed reported a decline in new buyer inquiries in July, a figure that was unchanged from June, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.
Despite remaining negative, the figure shows an improvement from a recent low net balance of 41% of professionals in March, which Rics noted indicates that the overall pace of deteriorating demand has eased.
