Air conditioning in Kingston upon Thames

Kingston's housing, area by area

Kingston's Core Strategy describes the borough's suburbs as ranging from large detached houses in landscaped settings to Victorian and Edwardian villas and terraces and post-war semi-detached estates. Each needs a slightly different install.

Kingston town and Norbiton are mostly late Victorian terraces and semis, with some 1930s housing to the north. Surbiton mixes early Victorian houses, artisan cottages, Art Deco blocks and large late 19th century townhouses. In these streets the outdoor unit usually goes at the rear, on the ground or the back-addition wall, with pipes run inside.

New Malden and Old Malden mix Edwardian, Victorian and 1930s houses. Coombe Hill has very large plots. Tolworth is mostly two-storey semis with flats on the main roads, and Chessington and Hook were built mostly from the late 1930s to the 1950s and in the 1970s. Semis and detached houses usually have a side wall or passage that keeps the unit out of sight, which suits a multi-split running several bedrooms from one outdoor unit.

Kingston's guidance on air conditioning units

The council's Conservation Area General Guidance names air conditioning units directly. It says they can harm a building's appearance and may need planning permission. It asks for all fixtures to go at the rear, below the eaves, not above the roofline and not visible from the street. The council's conservation area page also lists fixtures on walls or roofs facing the road among the works that need consent.

Kingston has 26 conservation areas covering 9.4 per cent of the borough, about 10,000 addresses. Its three Article 4 directions are narrow: one protects the Seething Wells filter beds, one controls changes from commercial use to homes, and one covers North Lodge and South Lodge. None affects air conditioning or the outside of ordinary houses.

On noise, Core Strategy Policy DM10 asks new development to avoid noise and disturbance to neighbours and to avoid visually intrusive building plant. The Residential Design SPD says alterations must not cause significant noise or nuisance to neighbours, and the council's environmental health team can act on noise from air conditioning. We choose quiet units, site them away from neighbours' windows and fit anti-vibration mounts.

• Kingston Old Town, Riverside North and Riverside South
• Fairfield/Knight's Park, Grove Crescent and The Groves
• St Andrew's Square, Southborough, Surbiton Town Centre and Surbiton Hill Park
• Claremont Road, Victoria Avenue, Oakhill and Christchurch
• Old Malden (St John's) and Old Malden (Plough Green)
• Coombe Hill, Coombe Wood, Coombe House and Kingston Hill
• Kingston Vale and Fishponds Park

Parking and access for engineers

Kingston has controlled parking zones across the town centre, Canbury, the Grove area, Kingston Hill, Norbiton, Riverside, Surbiton, Oakhill and Villiers. Hours vary. The central A1 zone runs Monday to Saturday, 8.30am to 10.30pm.

For building work lasting over three weeks, a resident can buy a contractor permit. It costs £48.70 for three months, works in all the CPZs and needs an estimate or contract on company paper. Approval can take up to 10 working days. We send you our quote in the right format for this.

For a shorter job, a bay suspension outside the town centre costs £41 per space per day with more than a week's notice, or £61.60 in the town centre. A dispensation to wait on a single yellow line is £30.80 a day per vehicle. The A3, A240 and A243 are TfL roads with their own rules.

Prices in Kingston upon Thames

Standard prices for a home install. Rear-wall brackets, long pipe runs and loft 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

• Open plan or a loft

  5 kW wall unit

  from£2,450inc. VAT

• Two rooms, one outdoor unit

  Multi-split

  from£3,650inc. VAT

• Three rooms

  Multi-split

  from£5,100inc. VAT

• An annual service

  Keeps the manufacturer warranty valid

  from£119inc. VAT

Neighbourhoods we cover

We cover the whole Royal Borough, including:

• Kingston town centre, Canbury and North Kingston
• Norbiton, Kingston Hill, Coombe and Kingston Vale
• Surbiton, Berrylands and Seething Wells
• Tolworth
• New Malden, Old Malden and Motspur Park
• Chessington, Hook and Malden Rushett

Kingston questions