Air conditioning in Hackney

A borough of flats, terraces and old warehouses

Hackney Council's 2017 housing strategy consultation said 80 per cent of the borough's homes are flats rather than houses, which is high even for inner London. That changes the first question we ask. In a flat, the outdoor unit needs a home that the freeholder and, often, the council will accept.

Many of those flats are in converted Victorian terraces in Clapton, Dalston, Stoke Newington and around London Fields. The outdoor unit usually goes at the back, on the ground, a back-addition roof or a rear wall, with the pipe run kept inside. Top-floor flats and loft rooms overheat first, so they are a common place to start.

Shoreditch, Hoxton and Hackney Wick add converted warehouses and newer blocks. High ceilings and big windows make sizing matter, and outdoor positions are often a shared roof or plant area run by a managing agent. We work with the building's rules on access, roof space and hours.

Planning in Hackney

Planning questions go to Hackney Council. Its Local Plan 2033 (LP33) was adopted in July 2020. For an unlisted house, a heating-capable unit can often go in without planning permission under the national rules, if it meets the size, position and noise limits. A cooling-only unit can't, and all the home systems we fit heat as well as cool.

Flats are tighter. National rules allow only one heat pump per block of flats, with an outdoor unit no bigger than 0.6 m³. If the block already has one, or the unit faces a street in a conservation area, you need planning permission. You will also need the freeholder's written consent, whatever the planning position.

Hackney Wick has a planning history of its own. Planning powers there passed from the London Legacy Development Corporation back to Hackney Council on 1 December 2024. The council says the Legacy Corporation's Local Plan still applies in that area until Hackney adopts a new plan.

Hackney's 35 conservation areas

Hackney Council lists 35 conservation areas, from small groups of streets to whole districts. In a conservation area, a unit on a wall or roof that faces a road needs planning permission. Some areas also have Article 4 directions that remove other permitted development rights. Hackney first used these in De Beauvoir and St Mark's, and has since proposed them for parts of Shacklewell Green, Beck Road and Well Street. The council's online map shows which apply to your address, so check with the council before planning a unit.

• De Beauvoir, Kingsland, Dalston and Dalston Lane (West)
• Albion Square, Queensbridge Road, Graham Road and Mapledene
• Broadway Market, Victoria Park, Well Street and Mare Street
• Clapton Square, Clapton Common, Clapton Pond and Lea Bridge
• Stoke Newington, Clissold Park, Lordship Park and Brownswood
• Northwold and Cazenove, Shacklewell Green and Newington Green (North)
• South Shoreditch, Hoxton Street, Pitfield Street and Sun Street
• Hackney Wick, Regent's Canal, St Mark's and Fremont and Warneford

Shops, studios, offices and restaurants

Hackney's businesses are often small and busy: studios and offices in Shoreditch, restaurants and cafés in Dalston and on Broadway Market, and shops along Mare Street and Stoke Newington Church Street. We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes, and service and repair existing systems in business hours.

Kitchens and server cupboards need more cooling than their size suggests, so we size from the heat load, not the floor area. For a shop or restaurant in a conservation area, a new outdoor unit usually needs planning permission, so we plan its position and noise data early.

Parking and access for engineers

Hackney runs lettered controlled parking zones across the borough. Our van uses pay-to-park bays or a suspended bay. Hackney needs at least 7 working days' notice, applied for online. The council charges £44 per bay per day plus a £100 admin fee per suspension, with a further £161 for late applications. A vehicle in a suspended bay must show the company's name or logo. If your job needs one, we apply and show the fee on your quote.

Hackney allows noisy building work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. We keep drilling inside those hours. The ULEZ covers all of London. The Congestion Charge zone's edge runs along Old Street, so we check TfL's map for addresses in South Shoreditch.

Prices in Hackney

Our standard prices. Home prices include VAT and business prices are plus VAT. Planning drawings, long pipe runs and roof access are quoted after the survey.

• A bedroom or study

  2.5 kW wall unit, 5 m pipe, fitted in a day

  from£1,850inc. VAT

• A living room

  3.5 kW wall unit

  from£2,050inc. VAT

• Two rooms, one outdoor unit

  Multi-split

  from£3,650inc. VAT

• Three rooms

  Multi-split

  from£5,100inc. VAT

• Commercial wall unit

  Fitted in business hours

  from£1,795+ VAT

• An annual service

  Keeps the manufacturer warranty valid

  from£119inc. VAT

Neighbourhoods we cover

We work across the borough, including the E2, E5, E8, E9, N1, N16 and EC2A postcodes:

• Shoreditch, Hoxton and Haggerston
• De Beauvoir Town and Dalston
• London Fields, Hackney Central and Hackney Downs
• Homerton, Hackney Wick and Victoria Park
• Clapton and Lea Bridge
• Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Woodberry Down

Hackney questions