Rich Londoners Find Money Can't Buy Relief From Dangerous Heat

With climate change, demand for air-con is surging, but getting the nod can be tough

- 

LONDON - As Londoners struggle to adapt to rising temperatures, some of the city's wealthier denizens are finding that money cannot always deliver the relief they seek.

With temperatures in some parts of the London Underground recently exceeding levels deemed fit for cattle, climate change is well and truly transforming the experience of living in Britain's capital.

The response has been a surge in demand for air-conditioning units in high-end homes.

Air-conditioning units used to be an infrequent request, said Mr Richard Gill, director at the London-based architecture firm Paul Archer Design.

But nowadays, roughly 30 per cent of his clients - mostly London's higher earners, including lawyers and finance professionals - want air-conditioning. Not all, however, are getting it.

That "no" can be hard to hear for people who are accustomed to plush climate-controlled offices, foreign travel and cars, Mr Gill said in an interview.

For Londoners, obstacles to getting air-conditioning units installed in their homes vary.

There can be technical or aesthetic restrictions on attaching units to old buildings.

And sometimes, councils simply reject claims of overheating.

Mr Gill says he had a client living in a 1920s home in Highgate, north London, who had sought permission to install air-conditioning back in 2022, which is the first year Britain recorded temperatures over 40 deg C.

The council blocked the request because it judged that the house would not overheat.

The client "would beg to differ", Mr Gill said. "Plenty of my clients go, 'I understand Richard, it is a First World problem, but my kids can't sleep and I work long hours."