A house viewed in April tells you almost nothing about the same house in August. The light is soft, the rooms feel pleasant, and nobody mentions the top-floor bedroom. When you book a viewing through one of the estate agents in Lagos, Algarve, ask whether you can come back at four in the afternoon in summer, because that is when a building shows what it can really do. If a second visit isn’t possible, there are still plenty of clues to look for on the first.
Which way the rooms face
Take a compass app with you. West-facing rooms take the afternoon sun at its fiercest, and a large west-facing window with no shading can turn a living room into an oven by teatime. South-facing rooms are easier to manage, because the summer sun is high and a modest overhang keeps it off the glass. North and east rooms stay cooler, and they tend to be the ones people end up sleeping in during a heatwave. None of this is a reason to walk away. It is a reason to know where the heat will be.
The roof and the top floor
Most of a house’s heat arrives through the roof. Ask what sits between the ceiling and the tiles. In an older house the answer is often very little. Put your hand on the ceiling of the top-floor bedroom if you can, and look for stains, flaking paint or cracks that suggest water or movement. A top-floor flat with a flat concrete roof can be a very different proposition from a ground-floor flat in the same block, and the price doesn’t always reflect that.
Shutters, shade and glass
External shutters or awnings beat internal curtains every time, because they stop the sun before it reaches the glass. Once sunlight has come through the window, the heat is already inside. Check that the shutters actually work, open and close smoothly, and that the slats aren’t warped or rotten. Look at how much of each wall is glazed. Big sliding doors look wonderful in the brochure and cost a great deal to keep cool.
Air conditioning
If the house has air conditioning, find out how old the units are and whether they are the only way the house stays liveable. An old unit that groans is a bill waiting to happen. Look at where the outdoor units sit, since a unit bolted to a bedroom wall can be noisy at night. Ask what last summer’s electricity bills looked like, and if the seller has the paperwork, ask to see it.
Smells and stains
Heat and damp often go together on a coast. Open cupboards, particularly in north-facing rooms, and sniff. Look behind furniture, at the corners of ceilings and under windows. Mould that returns after painting usually points to a ventilation or insulation problem rather than a cleaning one.
What you can borrow for a British house
Summers here are getting hotter too, and the same checks apply. Loft insulation matters in July as much as in January. External blinds, or even window film on the worst-affected panes, help more than most people expect. Opening windows on opposite sides of the house after dark, then shutting them in the morning before the sun gets going, will take a few degrees off the next day without spending anything at all.
