I feel like the UK sucks at climate mitigation on a personal level because if you try to do anything to modify the appearance of your home, it’s just straight-up illegal. The wooden shutters that southern Europeans have on the outside of the windows? Illegal. The metal shutters that Germans and Swiss have? Also illegal. Creating an awning over your windows? Illegal.

Now, when I say illegal, I mean that you can’t just do it. You need planning permission. And well, the answer is usually going to be “no”, because any modification that alters the exterior of your house – especially the front of your house – is just illegal.

Now onto air conditioning. It has only been since May 2025 that it was legal to install a unit without needing planning permission (which means that it was basically illegal). However, there is a catch! It has to meet certain noise, size, and visual constraints. Including that it cannot be installed on the front of your house (without planning permission), and you are limited to only one external unit, even if you were to install a second one out of view. So if your house is the kind that a second unit is necessary, well, it’s just not going to happen.

Oh but in any case, if your home is a listed building, or your neighbourhood is in a conservation area, forget about any of that. You can’t even install double-glazed windows!

@yassie_j yeah, been looking round recently & guess that explains the prevalence of internal window shutters in shops & everywhere

when the only external options for sale are either shop-security metal roller shutters or decorative wooden ones that screw to the wall but can't be closed & are never the right size for the full window