Liberal Democrats call for mandatory air conditioning in new UK homes

The Liberal Democrats have proposed a "climate‑ready" programme that would require every newly built residence in the United Kingdom to include air‑conditioning or an equivalent cooling system. The policy is presented as a response to recent heat‑wave alerts issued by the UK Health Protection Agency, which warned of high temperatures across England, the Midlands and Yorkshire, while July rainfall has fallen to just 5 % of the average.

Party spokespeople cite rising demand for cooling – the number of homes with air‑conditioning has reportedly doubled in three years, yet only about 4 million of the 30 million UK households are equipped. Commissioned polling showed 28 % of respondents bought a fan or AC unit during recent heatwaves, and 26 % felt unwell. Tim Farron, the party’s environment spokesperson, said: "This latest set of relentless heatwaves has taught us that Britain is woefully unprepared for extreme heat… the government must step in with a new plan that takes the onus off already‑struggling Brits and commits developers to build homes fit for the future." Housing spokesperson Gideon Amos added that air‑conditioning is becoming essential as UK homes are now among the smallest and hottest in Europe.