Air conditioning in Hillingdon

Metroland semis with room to spare

The council's 2023 Townscape Character Study uses Metroland for the classic interwar suburban housing found in many parts of Hillingdon. It describes the estates built around the Metropolitan line in Eastcote, Ruislip and Hillingdon, with Ruislip Manor as the central belt, and the arrival of Metroland in Ickenham. These homes tend to be detached or semi-detached, with hipped roofs and more space between them.

The 2021 Census shows how different Hillingdon is from inner London. 35 per cent of households live in a semi-detached house and 14 per cent in a detached one, against 19 and 6 per cent across London.

That suits air conditioning. A Metroland semi usually has a side passage or rear wall where one outdoor unit, out of view of the street, can run a multi-split cooling three or four bedrooms.

Living with Heathrow

The Local Plan notes that Hillingdon is home to Heathrow, and that aircraft noise from it severely affects some areas of the borough. Many households near the flight paths keep their windows shut on summer nights. A heat pump air conditioner cools a bedroom with the windows closed, and heats it in winter too.

Heathrow runs a Residential Insulation Scheme for homes inside a noise boundary it sets, with a postcode checker on its website. Heathrow told the council that Longford was the first pilot area. The scheme can fund windows, doors and acoustically rated ventilation, but Heathrow's pages don't mention cooling. If you've had this work done, we plan pipe routes around the new windows and vents.

Planning in Hillingdon

Planning questions go to Hillingdon Council. Its current plan is Local Plan Part 1 (2012) and Part 2 (adopted January 2020). The council has started work on a new Local Plan, with a scoping consultation in summer 2026, so check with the council if a policy matters to your project.

For an unlisted house, a unit that heats as well as cools can often go in without planning permission under the national rules, if it meets the size, position and noise limits. Cooling-only units, listed buildings and walls facing the road in a conservation area need permission.

The council lists borough-wide Article 4 directions for large rear extensions and houses in multiple occupation, and others protecting employment land. None of them is aimed at air conditioning or heat pumps.

Conservation areas and areas of special local character

Hillingdon has 31 conservation areas, from old village centres to planned estates and canal locks. It also has 15 areas of special local character, such as the Copsewood Estate in Northwood, Midcroft in Ruislip and Garden City in West Drayton, which the council treats as local heritage assets to preserve or enhance.

In a conservation area, a unit at the back of the house, away from the road, is often fine. We check your address at the survey and choose a position the council is likely to accept.

• Ruislip Village and Ruislip Manor Way
• Eastcote Village, Eastcote Park Estate and Morford Way
• Northwood, Frithwood, Northwood Town Centre and The Glen
• Ickenham Village, Harefield Village and Hillingdon Village
• Old Uxbridge/Windsor Street and The Greenway in Uxbridge
• Hayes Village and the Botwell areas in Hayes
• West Drayton Green, Harmondsworth, Harlington and Longford villages

Offices, shops and industrial units

The Local Plan names Uxbridge as the borough's metropolitan centre, with district centres at Hayes, Yiewsley, Ruislip, Eastcote and Green Lane in Northwood. We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes in shops and offices there, in business hours, and service and repair existing systems.

Stockley Park is a strategic office location of some 67 hectares. Hillingdon also has four strategic industrial locations: the Hayes Industrial Area, Uxbridge Industrial Estate, Stonefield Way in South Ruislip and the North Uxbridge industrial estates. Units there often need cooling for offices, server rooms or staff areas. We size each system from the heat load, not just the floor area.

Parking and access for engineers

Hillingdon controls parking through local parking management schemes, usually from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, with the hours shown on signs at each bay.

Where we need a clear bay, the council's suspensions page lists £48.50 per space per day, with at least 7 full working days' notice for permit bays. For building work, a parking waiver lets a vehicle stay where it would otherwise be restricted, for £24.30 per vehicle per day. We apply and show the fee on your quote.

The council allows noisy building work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. Hillingdon is outside the Congestion Charge zone. TfL's ULEZ covers all London boroughs, including Hillingdon.

Prices in Hillingdon

Our standard prices. Home prices include VAT and business prices are plus VAT. Most Hillingdon houses suit a multi-split, so we've included those. Long pipe runs 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

• Four rooms

  Multi-split

  from£6,500inc. VAT

• Commercial wall unit

  Fitted in business hours

  from£1,795+ VAT

Neighbourhoods we cover

We work across the borough, including UB3, UB4, UB7, UB8, UB10, UB11, HA4 and HA6, and the Hillingdon parts of UB9 and HA5:

• Northwood, Northwood Hills and Harefield
• Ruislip, Ruislip Manor, South Ruislip and Eastcote
• Ickenham, Hillingdon and Uxbridge
• Cowley, Yiewsley and West Drayton
• Hayes, Yeading and Harlington
• Harmondsworth, Sipson and Longford

Hillingdon questions