Air conditioning in Kensington and Chelsea

Why Kensington and Chelsea needs a different approach

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) says nearly three quarters of the borough sits inside its 38 conservation areas. Its Local Plan 2024 counts over 4,000 listed buildings and over 100 garden squares. Flats and maisonettes make up 85 per cent of the housing stock.

So the usual question isn't which unit to buy. It's where the outdoor unit can go, who has to agree to it, and how quiet it has to be. We plan that at the survey, before you commit to anything.

Mansion blocks, stucco terraces and mews houses

Mansion blocks in South Kensington, Earl's Court and around Kensington High Street need consent from the freeholder or managing agent, and often a lift booking and agreed working hours. The council's Local Plan notes that buildings such as mansion blocks don't have the permitted development rights that houses have, so planning permission is the usual route for an outdoor unit.

Terraced houses in Chelsea, Holland Park and Notting Hill usually take the outdoor unit on a rear flat roof, a rear wall below the parapet, or down in a lightwell, with pipes routed internally. Mews houses have little or no rear space, so we look at roof positions and compact units with low sound levels.

Where a building is listed, or the street front is protected, ducted or multi-split systems often work best. One discreet outdoor unit can serve several rooms, and indoor units can be hidden in a ceiling void.

Planning in RBKC: what the council looks at

Policy GB8 of the Local Plan 2024 says the council will resist plant, including air conditioning units and air source heat pumps, that would have an unacceptable noise and vibration impact on neighbours. Policy CD10 covers small additions such as mechanical plant, which must be discreetly located and must not harm the building's appearance.

Policy GB5 asks applicants to reduce reliance on air conditioning by following the London Plan cooling hierarchy. In practice, an application for a unit should show that shading and ventilation have been considered first. We help you write that part of the statement.

The noise bar is high. In a 2025 committee decision on two condensers on a mansard roof in the Ladbroke Conservation Area, the council set a condition that plant noise must stay 10 dB(A) below the lowest background level, measured 1 m from the nearest home's window, and that the units sit on anti-vibration mounts. That is the standard we design to here.

• Listed buildings: the council says listed building consent is needed even for smaller changes, and names air conditioning and vents in its list
• Article 4 directions in conservation areas control changes to front elevations, windows, doors, boundary walls and roofs
• A borough-wide Article 4 direction also covers basement extensions to houses
• Pre-application advice runs from Level 1 (£587 for a householder in 2026 to 2027) and Level 1 isn't available for listed building alterations

Conservation areas we work in

These are some of the borough's 38 conservation areas. Each has its own appraisal, and we check the one that covers your street before we design anything.

• Chelsea, Cheyne, Royal Hospital and Sloane Square
• The Boltons, Courtfield and Queen's Gate
• Thurloe/Smith's Charity and Brompton
• Kensington Square, Kensington Court and De Vere
• Ladbroke, Pembridge, Norland and Holland Park
• Edwardes Square/Scarsdale & Abingdon
• Earl's Court Square, Earl's Court Village and Philbeach
• Hans Town, Sloane/Stanley, Lots Village and Colville

Parking and access for engineers

There are no uncontrolled streets in the borough. Our van parks on pay-by-phone bays or on a suspended bay. RBKC suspensions for building work are for trades vans, not cars. Permit bays need 10 working days' notice and pay-by-phone bays need two. From 1 April 2026 the fee is £82 per space per day for the first five days. If a job needs a suspension, we apply for it and show the council's fee on your quote.

RBKC is stricter than most boroughs on noise. Noisy work audible beyond the site is allowed 8am to 6pm on weekdays and not at all on Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays. Drilling through walls is planned inside those hours.

The borough is outside the Congestion Charge zone. The ULEZ covers all of London.

Prices in Kensington and Chelsea

These are our standard London prices. Planning drawings, acoustic reports, enclosures and long internal pipe runs are quoted separately after the survey.

• A bedroom or study

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

  from£1,850inc. 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

• Ducted, per zone

  Hidden in the ceiling, survey needed

  from£4,950inc. VAT

• Design range upgrade

  Daikin Emura, Mitsubishi Electric Zen, LG Artcool

  from£550inc. VAT

How a Kensington and Chelsea install runs

1. 1

   Survey

   We check the listing, the conservation area, the lease and where an outdoor unit could sit, and take background noise readings if planning is likely.

2. 2

   Consents

   We give you drawings and noise data for the freeholder, the managing agent and, where needed, a planning or listed building consent application.

3. 3

   Book access

   Once consent is in place we book the bay suspension, lift and working hours with the building.

4. 4

   Install

   Anti-vibration mounts, neat internal pipe routes and noisy drilling kept to weekday hours. Then commissioning and F-Gas records.

Neighbourhoods we cover

We work across the whole Royal Borough, including:

• Chelsea, King's Road and World's End
• South Kensington, Brompton and Brompton Cross
• Kensington and Kensington High Street
• Earl's Court and West Brompton
• Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove and Portobello
• Holland Park and Notting Dale
• North Kensington, Golborne and Kensal
• Lots Road and the RBKC side of Knightsbridge

Kensington and Chelsea questions