A new air quality website has made the NO₂, levels public, provoking worry that the information will damage house prices in several of the capital’s most exclusive postcodes.
Winds of change
With 37 cities repeatedly recording illegal levels of NO₂, the United Kingdom’s air quality record is bad and, in London, over two million people live in areas where air pollution levels are above the legal limit.
There is no healthy level of NO₂.
As recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), European law limits NO₂ in the air to an hourly average of 40 micrograms per cubic metre (μg per m³)—or any regular spikes in extreme levels of NO₂—and any measurement above 40μg per m³ gets a ‘significant pollution’ rating.
The Central Office of Public Interest (COPI) is a non-profit campaign organisation that has created www.addresspollution.org—an air quality rating website using KCL-sourced data. For each address, the website gives an air pollution rating of one to five, with ‘five’ showing the air pollution is at least 50% above the legal limit.
Affluent Chelsea and Westminster are areas with air pollution above 80μg per m³. This level of toxicity leads to a 33% increased risk of disease-related mortality. Southwark was the worst postcode area with a nitrogen dioxide measurement of over 102μg per m³. It’s in these boroughs where the COPI is targeting homebuyers with billboards that read: ‘These houses cost an arm, leg, and lung’ and ‘Location, Location, Lung Disease’.
COPI are advising homebuyers and renters demand discounts of up to 20% to live in the areas with the worst air quality—which could cut property prices across the capital may drop by up to £256,000 in Chelsea, £146,000 in Islington, and £66,000 in Tower Hamlets.
A study showed 76% of the London’s residents say that discounts should apply to properties available to buy or rent in neighbourhoods where the air quality violates the legal limit and where they’re at greater risk of experiencing related health issues.
‘”Air pollution is killing people across the country, and London is worst hit—but people don’t believe it will affect them personally”
“Air pollution is killing people across the country, and London is worst hit—but people don’t believe it will affect them personally.”
“‘The Air Quality Rating is a tool to change these perceptions and shows just how real, and dangerous, air pollution is across the capital, including in some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods.”
Those fashionable addresses include Notting Hill, Regent’s Park, and The Mall where, if you don’t find yourself among their high-rolling residents such as Daniel Craig, David Beckham, and the royal family, you can guarantee you’ll be amid very polluted air.
Milles added:
“I urge every Londoner to check the Air Quality Rating for their address, get informed and take action.”
Frank Kelly, Professor of Environmental Health at KCL, said:
‘Many people don’t learn about air pollution levels and the health consequences until after they have suffered its effects.’
Studies have shown nitrogen dioxide levels above 40μg per m³ to lead to an 11% increased risk of disease-related mortality.
Evidence also shows links between NO₂ exposure and decreased life expectancy, anxiety, asthma; Autism, cancer, dementia; Depression, erectile dysfunction, infertility; Miscarriage, obesity, psychosis, and slow childhood development.
There are 36,000 deaths each year because of air pollution, costing us £20billion each year in healthcare. A further 29,000 people die with air pollution-related illnesses such as cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes.
The WHO says humans shouldn’t expose themselves to levels exceeding 200μg per m³ for anything over 18 hours a year but the air quality sensor on the Strand passed this limit 20 times by July of this year.
‘With an Air Quality rating for every house in the country using the latest data provided by King’s, this will enable the public to better understand the air quality at their own front door, and equip them with an understanding of how best to improve their local air quality,’ added Professor Kelly.
Cloudy with a chance of…a discount?
In August we learned that the Autumn Budget may bring fuel duty cuts of 2ppl, which, while great for the motorist, isn’t consistent with improving environmental pollution caused by car emissions.
Only a week before we told you about ‘Emission Impossible?’—a report by a conservative think tank calling on the government to reduce air pollution by not only stopping the freeze on the value of fuel duty but to apply a surcharge on fuel duty for diesel fuel.
By law, estate agents must declare material issues to you, that could affect the price of a property you’re looking to buy. Yet, with air pollution, the matter—pardon the pun—becomes cloudy.
Because the argument exists that air isn’t a material issue, estate agents need not make you aware that it might be a problem and may damage the health of you and your family, etc.
Although estate agents exist who say it’s inevitable that declaring air quality ratings will become an industry standard, in the meantime, if you’re looking to buy a property in London (or anywhere, because the website is rolling out the service to the rest of the UK), remember, the air quality information is now public and can help you negotiate on the price.
All because the German and French motor industry lobbied the EU to support diesel cars. Appalling.
So so true
It’s all because we wanted to BUY diesel cars! Car manufacturers are no different to any other manufacturer of consumer goods. They sell what people want to buy. It’s how they make their living. Petrol cars are actually cheaper to build than diesels. What’s in it for them? Politicians seem to be only capable of thinking about one environmental problem at a time. A decade or so ago, it was CO2. Diesels are better on CO2. THAT’S what caused governments to incentivise diesel.
Rubbish! You can’t blame the EU for this one! The government encouraged us to buy diesel because it and still better for CO2 emissions. The NOX emissions are bad locally but not a greenhouse gas. It’s a difficult one to balance.
The EU turned a blind eye to their german corporate masters pre the diesel gate criminal scandal that is directly related to thousands of preventable deaths, and no one has been prisoned ! The EU is corrupt !
That’s why our entire family no longer buy German or French cars. We are a big family of over 20 car users. Hit them in the pocket so they take action NOW!
Over 20 car users in one (large) family. Now is it the type of vehicle , number of them or the desire for simple personal (I not WE thinking) travel
I like your thinking Rich. Why take responsibility for our own actions when we could blame someone else? Appalling indeed.
Glad I live in a rural area but with the government hell bent on building in green belt zones nobody will have a chance
Only 13% of total land is built upon in the UK a lower proportion than most In EU!
UK has the smallest and most expensive homes per SQM in the EU due to a rigged market for land which uses protection of the green belt as a mechanism to drip feed from land banks creating ever higher land and therefore housing prices. Much of the green belt is nigher green nor attractive and brown field sites are in undesirable locations where the gov have mandated 60% of new homes to be built! So the less well of now have to be cattle rammed into these modern day council estate replacements on brown field sites.
Its selfish to deny desirable housing at attainable cost by rigging the land market and not freeing up the greenbelt .
Without the green belt pollution would be hundreds of times worse. It works as a carbon sink and gives off oxygen. We need more green belt not less.
France is more than twice as big as the UK with the same population. Can’t see them being worse off than us!
There should be a minimum of £1000 reduction in house price for every unit over 40 limit.
No, they should sell them at a premium to those people who don’t believe that pollution is a problem!
I don’t think you understand how property prices work do you Mickey?
Not more tax on diesel! Does the government not think we pay enough tax on diesel. It is time that traffic lights were sequenced so that if you stuck to the speed limit you could keep moving on major roads. Stop starting and queuing causes a lot of pollution. Increase the tax on bigger engined cars no one needs a car capable of going over a hundred miles an hour.
Who wants to live in London ??
The question has to be asked, “What exactly is being done to combat excessive pollution levels?” It is time to stop beating about the bush and introduce congestion charging in all UK towns and cities, with the proceeds 100% directed to improved and integrated public transport, cycling and walking.
So what are you personally doing to combat pollution, do you cycle, walk, use public transport or drive a 4X4?
The emissions regulations for cars are being tightened immensely, in the wake of the VW scandal. The Commission got a right kicking from the Parliament for allowing it to happen in the first place, and has been tasked with bringing in year-on-year improvements. We’re already into the second year of that now, with more to come. We now need to do the same with other forms of transport and then other sources of NOx and particulates (such as log burners).
What happens when you live just outside a town in the country, in Suffolk, & you are over 80. Unfortunately we are unable to walk or cycle & the buses are withdrawn by the Council because of cuts. Then the only way to visit a hospital in town is by car , paying a surcharge to come in plus the exorbitant hospital car park charge. Oh to go back to the “good” old days before CHARGES were invented!!
Never understand why people want to live in an overpopulated, polluted, expensive place.
Why is it that there is no effort to improve cat converters on diesel cars to reduce particulate emissions – on old as well as new vehicles? This can be done and is happening on boats etc. For cars, in the name of saving the environment, the only policy is to get millions of vehicles scrapped and the public to buy millions of electric cars instead. What is the environmental cost of producing these vehicles, and ditching so many others? Surely a comprehensive environmental approach would include making all the existing diesel cars much cleaner. This can be done – but there is no incentive because both car manufacturers and governments make much more money by selling new cars.
this is nothing new I was born in the 40s and had to suffer the smog now that was very bad
I too was born in the 40s. The thing is neither of us are snowflakes.
Speed humps in residential streets force one constantly to brake, drive in low gear and accelerate away, all three producing additional pollution. Has anyone done the research to find out whether humps cause more loss of life through pollution than are saved through reduced traffic speed?
Yes, the EU gave the job of policing emissions to the manufacturers. This disaster is due to the EU. I hope Boris gets us out of their cloying interference very soon.
Me too,
Christopher E W – Another example of a failure to understand how the EU works. Its not a them-Vs-us relationship or them-telling-us-what-to-do relationship. The UK is a member state of the EU, so the UK was one of the decision makers. How are you still not understanding this?
One vote out of 28, doesn’t cut much ice. The agenda was pushed by the commission, which is appointed not elected. Like the house of Lords, it is a retirement home for failed politicians .
Mike – most people in society and politics haven’t been elected into the positions they hold and we happily accept their suggestions, rules and laws – why is the commission such a sticking point? Might be a bit specific but (Sir) Julian King doesn’t seem very failed to me.
It’s democracy, that’s why you end up with something you don’t want. Like a yellow room. See Auf wiedersiehn pet!
Humps are requested by NIMBYs to deter traffic in their street so it goes elsewhere. It is much cheaper to simply stop repairing the road so the potholes have the same effect. All so called traffic calming measures are a bad idea, used by local politicians who are trying to get re-elected!
How would you enforce low speed streets when drivers as a whole ignore speed restrictions?
The health impacts of NOx are only greater than smoking because 40+ years of anti-smoking campaigns (and the death toll of smokers over the same period) have reduced the proportion of nicotine slaves in the UK from over 50% of adults in the 1960s to the present level of under 15%. By inference, the progressive depletion of older diesel-powered vehicles and their replacements with increasingly-“cleaner” alternatives is likely to reduce NOx concentrations to imperceptible levels by around 2060. By then of course, the Government will have discovered at least three further environmental hazards to threaten our lifestyles and maintain panic headlines in the media.
Wow lets hope the population goes down soon – Brexit all the way – Less pollution – Less congestion –
Yes it could be an unexpected benefit of economic recession – fewer vehicles on the streets.
Even at 20% off, houses in London and the Home Counties would still be grossly overpriced and unaffordable for people on “national-average” incomes. However, while all those Minions cram themselves into that corner of the nation, the rest of us have relatively more space and fewer pollutants to breathe. They choose to live in that blot on the landscape.
Oh dear! When will people stop blaming everyone but themselves. Wake up everyone!! Everyone makes their own choices – so you have to accept the consequences of these choices. You have to make informed decisions. If you bought diesel you did it because it was cheaper for you and you ignored the warnings about pollution and health effects that have been there for decades. It’s like using a credit card and not even paying the monthly interest and now expecting someone else to pay the huge bill you’ve run up. Make better choices and if you don’t know the pros and cons – FIND OUT. Always going for the cheapest option almost always comes with hidden costs that will have to be paid later – often by your children and grandchildren.
I worked for a diesel manufacturer in the 60s. Even then, there was concern about NOX emissions and small soot particles. A lot of research went on to try and reduce these. They have been very successful in practically eliminating soot with better pumps and injectors. However, NOX is a function of the higher maximum temperature and pressure in the diesel cycle, which gives the diesel a fuel economy advantage, but causes more atmospheric oxygen and nitrogen to combine. Petrol vehicles also emit NOX, but relatively less. A modern diesel has both particle traps and catalytic converters, which take the pollutants out of the exhaust.
Because of their greater efficiency, diesel use less fuel and so produce less CO2. CO2 at moderate levels is not a pollutant, but it is a greenhouse gas. If there are enough green spaces, it gets absorbed by plants and turned back into oxygen. It is the population pressures which have increases CO2 production and at the same time reduced amount of green spaces. I agree, we make personal choices – For example: If you choose to have more than 2 children, you make the problem worse.
Not quite sure why a site that is designed to encourage users to find the cheapest fuel in their locality is supporting a view that I/C vehicles are so horrendous. Do you want us to buy the best value fuel in our area for our petrol or diesel-engined carsor not? If not, probably the best route for you is to close the site and run one focused on finding the closest charging point for electric vehicles. All I want to do is get to work and, maybe, go out at the weekend.
Excellent comment. They seem to repeat the propaganda about CO2 and pollution.
New houses are being built on the old Fenstanton depth. The properties are just 5 to 10 metres away from the very busy And. The only barrier is a high fence. Madness for the new owners and especially the young children. Should not be allowed.
GOVERNMENT LED SCAM. PROMOTE DIESEL PRETEXT HEALTHIER THAN PETROL RAISE PETROL CAR TAX= MORE TAX REVENUE; PETROL CARS WITH 3L BUT LOW EMISSIONS AND ONLY DOING< 3000 MILES PER YEAR £570 CAR TAX PA . NOW WE ARE TOLD OFFICIALLY THAT WAS ALL INCORRECT.DIESEL IS A REAL KILLER. TREASURY WONT BUDGE. SCAM SCAM SCAM CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE
You must have missed the 4 general elections that have been held since Labour started pushing people towards diesel; as well as the change in government back in 2010. Change to what? The Green party?
Who needs these guys, I clearly said over a year ago that the house prices would drop as soon as the emissions zone is extended. With the London prices being higher than the rest of the country, it would be nice to know that breathing cleaner air might be a benefit on living within the zone. But it does mean the network of Buses and other public transport will emit NO2 and that level will be interesting. Having returned to London since the London Transport was broken up and routes were duplicated in some areas. perhaps it is a time to revise that.
I do believe that the amount of pollution we ingested during our lives in a basement flat has shortened our life spans. Both my parents went long before they should and the place had net curtains greyed by the exhaust fumes. But no-one listened during the earlier years. It has to be this modern era and the much too late concern for the future. It is no good slating the UK and Europe for the pollution when the third world has awoken to the need to update their transport using our old polluting vehicles. So, it would be wise to put them beyond use and have a worldwide emissions policy. I feel we are doing our best to improve air quality and it will need a period of a decade to provide the data that shows it is better or worse.
personally I think this NOx story is utter excreta del toro.
I’m 75 and I’ve been breathing NOx all my life. And I’m still here.
Bill’s still alive therefore NOx is a lie. Great logic.
Introduce Chinese -style breeding controls and none of this crap will be necessary.
“Air pollution is killing people across the country2 Absolutely no evidence for these crass statements.
“may bring fuel duty cuts of 2ppl, which, while great for the motorist, isn’t consistent with improving environmental pollution caused by car emissions.” People still have to drive, making it more expensive will not cut driving., simply pushes up the cost of living.
Are we all not to blame for a lot of these problems. So keen to jump in a car, or put our teenagers in cars and add to the traffic and pollution problems. So many journeys could be done by cycle, motorcycle, scooter or moped without involving the car. It has been proved that if 10% of drivers switched to powered two wheelers , traffic would be cut by more than a quarter. Along with that would be the obvious cut in pollution.
Breaking News – Buying a house in a congested area can subject you to air pollution!
Who would ever have guessed that?