To feel baffled as to why buildings don't have shutters in the UK

Nearly all houses in Europe (ok I looked at Netherlands and further south) seem to manage to have external shutters or awnings so that windows can be shaded but still open for ventilation. The solutions exist.
It would need a change of both planning guidance and building regulations as well as the supply chain for windows to be completely changed, as many of the current type of outward opening casements would need to change to tilt and turn. Possible, but would need a strong steer from government to action. But like UPVC windows, in 10-15 years a lot of homes would change over to the new system.

I have a horrible feeling that they're not allowed locally as logically if they were, someone would have them.

I'm going to look into it when I get back from holiday (large outer London council).

If you do want solar control blinds for the inside though @CoffeeCantata they already exist and are easy to get from any of the big blind retailers.

I don't get that either. If you needed to open the window, you'd open the shutter, then the window, then reverse to close?

Heatwaves have mostly not been all summer though. We have tended to have longer periods when it’s cold and planning has been around conserving heat and making sure the elderly don’t die when it’s cold! Now we need to make sure they don’t die when it’s hot. My parents in law had an awning across the back of the house. Difficult at the front in many ways but even if half the house is shaded it’s not a bad thing. They take maintenance though. It’s still pretty easy to buy fans and blinds to keep out the sun.

All buildings are about ten years out of date by the time they're actually ready to be used. I think that has to be one of the reasons.

What's the windows opening outward issue? If it's hot enough to have shutters down my windows would be closed to keep the heat out anyway.

That is a good idea. I'm going to check planning regulations on that as I've only seen them on flats.

This summer has shown quite clearly that they are if you have south facing windows and no overhang.

It's not 5 years though. There's been a heatwave in London on average every 4 years for the last 24 years. There's more than enough justification for change in the SE. People die as a result of the flats that can't be cooled down.

Property building is an oligopoly (dominated by a small number of similar firms) with no incentive to change the way they do things.

The Tories really should have given a little thought to what type of market they were dealing with.

I wish they would! We've lived in London for 24 years and there have been 6 heatwaves in that time. Despite fitting solar control blinds on all the west facing windows and putting solar control glass in the bedrooms, this year we've struggled to keep the temperature below 30 degrees upstairs.

Our windows probably need changing soon and if there's anything better on the market, I'm up for it!

Shutters and fly screens are definitely the way to go. And screen doors.

That’s a good idea. I agree about having the shading on the outside.
we’ve got huge south facing windows and in previous years I tried various blinds but they didn’t do much as the glass still heats up from the sun. Our quick free fix has been a couple of old bedsheets hung outside and we tie them up once the sun has gone round. It’s reduced the indoor heat enough that we can use that room to eat and relax. Might not be the prettiest thing but highly effective.

It's all part of a sinister plot orchestrated by a cabal of air conditioning companies.

Or UK houses being built down to a budget.

and I'm fuming about why people think air con is the answer, just LTB.

Slightly off topic but I live in a street that is 94% council houses and the street was built in 1898.
The council recently had a maintenance drive on the street and changed all the roofs, windows and doors.
They took out all the old windows and replaced then with lovely new sash windows, keeping in line with the architecture. They also put in traditional style doors, not the plain white bog standard ones. I was so impressed.

The difference is inside/outside installation.

If you use blinds inside, the heat is already in the room.

If you use something very effective inside very close to the window (or directly on it), you'll reflect all the heat back on the window. If the window is double glazed, you can create so big heat between the glasses that the window will crack.

There are static heat reflecting internal window foils available which are efficient and can be easily put up and down without glue - but the heat can damage the window.

Sash windows are great for optimising breezes by releasing the hotter air at the top of the room and drawing in cooler air through the lower section.

A few years I went to a heritage site with a steam pump and the draught created by the large sash window at the end of the room was surprisingly strong compared to the outside air movement (although helped by the temperature differences created by the steam pump, but it did show the effectiveness of the air flow created)

Sheltering the windows externally from the sunlight hitting them is the best initial protection.

4 years ago when the record temperatures were reached, we made external screens from dust sheets draped and held in by closing the windows which did substantially filter the sun reaching the windows and delay the rooms from heating.

External shutters would be useful for heat retention in the winter as well as moderating peak summer temperatures.

External have a huge effect if used correctly and don't make the global heat situation worse.

It should be illegal to install AC to a building which doesn't use the easy the available passive cooling options first.

I live in a finca in Mallorca so we often have 40 degree days. I have internally opening windows and shutters but I don’t use the shutters. I have ceiling fans on all the time and houses here are built for the heat so it’s fine. I have all the windows open to allow a draft through. Shutters are very expensive and if you have wooden ones they don’t last that long in the heat. Aluminium is better but not very pretty.

I am baffled as to why people in this country use fans in rooms with the windows open. I am baffled as to why people in this country don't close the curtains/blinds when it is really hot and sunny.

I wonder if a really effective blind, which you could use as well as curtains if you wish, could be devised?

We have blinds at our windows as well as curtains (I love a bit of William Morris, me) but they are just the standard flimsy ones. I think it might be easier and cheaper for most people if something much more robust, specially designed to reflect heat, could be invented.

Colour is very important in reflecting heat. Our house faces south and I used to paint the front door dark colours, which i prefer. Immediately it all blistered. Then I gave in and had it painted pale ice blue and we've never had an issue since.

Well I rented a flat that had sash windows for 20 years but having functioning eyes I recognised that MOST windows open outwards ........... 🙄

So much warmer in winter too. Modern German houses have integrated roll down shutters, they don't need to be fixed on the outside like in France. The French ones look nicer, but not as hermetically sealing for the winter.