Air conditioning in Newham

Terraced streets and new towers

Nearly half of Newham households live in a house. In the 2021 Census, 31.3 per cent of households lived in a terraced house and 43.6 per cent in a purpose-built block of flats. The council's characterisation study describes the largest part of the borough, covering Upton, East Ham, West Ham and Plaistow, as mainly terraced housing.

In a terraced house, the outdoor unit usually goes on the back wall or on the ground in the garden, with the pipe run kept inside. Back bedrooms and loft conversions are the usual first rooms, and a multi-split can serve two or three bedrooms from one outdoor unit.

Stratford, Canning Town and the Royal Docks are where most new blocks have gone up. There the outdoor unit goes on a balcony or in a shared plant area, with the managing agent's approval. Census 2021 also shows 28 per cent of households in social housing and 38.5 per cent renting privately, so landlord consent is often the first step.

Planning in Newham

Planning questions go to Newham Council. Its adopted plan is still the Newham Local Plan 2018. A new Newham Local Plan was found sound by the planning inspector in August 2026, subject to changes, and goes to Full Council for adoption. Once adopted, it replaces both the 2018 plan and, in Newham, the London Legacy Development Corporation's 2020 Local Plan.

Stratford's Olympic Park and the land around it were planned by the London Legacy Development Corporation until 1 December 2024, when planning powers returned to Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. Newham now decides applications for its part of that area.

For a house that isn't listed, a heating-capable unit can often go in without planning permission under Class G of the national rules, as rewritten from 29 May 2025, if it meets the size, position and noise limits. A cooling-only unit can't. A block of flats is allowed one heat pump in total, with an outdoor unit no bigger than 0.6 m³, so a block that already has one needs a planning application for the next.

Newham's nine conservation areas

Newham Council lists nine conservation areas. Three Mills and Sugar House Lane sit in the area once covered by the London Legacy Development Corporation. In any conservation area, a unit on a wall or roof facing a road needs planning permission, so we look at the back of the property first. A separate Article 4 direction controls the conversion of family homes to shared houses across the borough, outside the former Legacy Corporation area.

• Durham Road (Manor Park, E12)
• East Ham (E6)
• Forest Gate Town Centre, Romford Road and Woodgrange Estate (E7)
• Stratford St John's, Sugar House Lane and University (E15)
• Three Mills (E3)

Shops, restaurants and offices

We fit and look after systems in shops and restaurants on Green Street, East Ham High Street and around Forest Gate, in offices and clinics in Stratford, and in units around the Royal Docks. We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes, and service and repair existing systems in business hours.

We size kitchens and server cupboards from the heat load. Business premises follow different planning rules from homes, and a unit in a conservation area such as Forest Gate Town Centre or East Ham needs particular care, so we plan the outdoor position early.

Parking and working hours

Newham is divided into resident parking zones, and some Stratford and West Ham zones have longer hours on event days. If the van needs a bay, we apply for a suspension. Newham asks for at least 10 working days' notice. For an applicant from outside the borough, it charges £50 per bay per day plus an administration fee of £200 for under three days or £400 for three days or more. Each street needs its own application.

Newham residents can apply themselves to suspend up to three bays in their own zone for building works, at a lower resident rate. Either way, we tell you the cost before the job is booked.

Newham's normal hours for construction work are 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or public holidays. Newham is well outside the Congestion Charge zone, and the ULEZ covers all of London.

Prices in Newham

Our standard prices. Home prices include VAT and business prices are plus VAT. Long pipe runs, planning drawings and access equipment 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 E6, E7, E12, E13, E15, E16 and E20 postcodes:

• Stratford, Maryland and the Olympic Park
• Forest Gate and Manor Park
• West Ham, Plaistow and Upton Park
• East Ham and Beckton
• Canning Town and Custom House
• The Royal Docks, Silvertown and North Woolwich

Newham questions