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With more than two-thirds of England officially in drought and temperatures soaring to the fifth recorded heatwave this year, Prime Minister Andy Burnham is holding a COBRA meeting to see what responsive measures could be introduced.
Already, heatwaves in the UK have cost farmers almost £400m in lost yield, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced that more than 2,800 people died in the May and June heatwaves; measures will need to consider all sectors.
One area that could unlock supportive measures to help the public adapt to more frequent heatwaves is that of ‘green mortgages’.
The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) recently found that 430,000 households risk becoming ‘climate mortgage prisoners’ by 2050 because of worsening extreme weather.
The research states that homeowners won’t be able to get affordable insurance due to the threat and impact of climate change. Additionally, the Climate Change Committee’s ‘Well-Adapted UK’ report suggests 92% of existing UK homes will overheat during summers by 2050.
Now UKSIF is promoting that, with the right Government policies, mortgages could be expanded to cover ‘climate resiliency upgrades’.
James Alexander, UKSIF CEO, said: “A home is usually someone’s most expensive asset. But increasingly, climate change is threatening their structural integrity and long-term value.
“More broadly, worsening flooding and extreme heat events could undermine the stability of the housing market and harm the UK’s wider economy. Green mortgages could be key to unlocking the finance households will need to climate-proof their properties in the coming decades.
“But there must be action to raise the profile and accessibility of these products, alongside improved property climate risk information, before this lending can expand significantly.”
UKSIF believes that expanding the remit of green mortgages would enable homeowners to borrow to improve property protection against increased climate risks such as heat and flooding.
The organisation published responses from a survey of 2852 British adults which found that three-quarters of homeowners would choose to protect their properties if lenders could support them in financing upgrades.
Measures to do so include shading, air cooling, insulation, ventilation, or solar panels.
UKSIF found that just 2% would turn away these technologies. Almost two-thirds of private renters are in favour of expanded green mortgages.
Green mortgages currently serve two main purposes: they are used to purchase energy-efficient homes and incentivise lower interest rates, or to provide additional borrowing to improve energy performance.
The second option can be used to purchase heat pumps that are partially covered by Government grants or unsubsidised technologies like electric vehicle chargers, rainwater harvesting systems, domestic wind turbine installations and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR).
Heatwave costs
The research comes as think tank Verdant found that the UK could experience cumulative losses of £25.6bn from heatwaves each year by 2030.
Verdant found that successive heatwaves from May to the end of July 2026 have an estimated economic cost of at least £4.4bn.
Economic losses are attributed to reduced productivity from having to work in higher temperatures and infrastructure and equipment failure from overheating and failing.
For each degree of increased temperature above 30C a 3% reduction in output per hour across Europe has been observed.
Verdant is calling for a national maximum working temperature, a heat insurance scheme to protect those who can’t work during heatwaves and increased investment in cooling and urban design.
