Air conditioning in Tower Hamlets

Towers, warehouses and estates

In the 2021 Census, 80.7 per cent of Tower Hamlets households lived in a purpose-built block of flats, which the council says is the second-highest share in England. Fewer than 1 in 10 lived in a terraced house.

The same Census shows 35.9 per cent of households renting from the council or a housing association, and 38.2 per cent renting privately. If you rent, you need your landlord's written agreement before any install. On an estate, the council or a housing association is usually the freeholder.

Tower Hamlets buildings and how we approach them

Planning in Tower Hamlets

Planning questions go to Tower Hamlets Council. Its adopted plan is the Tower Hamlets Local Plan 2031, adopted in January 2020, and a new Local Plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination in February 2026.

For a house that isn't listed, a heating-capable unit can often go in without planning permission under Class G, the national rules 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, with an outdoor unit no bigger than 0.6 m³, so if the block already has one, a new unit needs an application.

The area from Hackney Wick to Bromley-by-Bow, including Fish Island, was planned by the London Legacy Development Corporation until its planning powers returned to the boroughs on 1 December 2024. Tower Hamlets now decides all applications there. The council says the Legacy Corporation's Local Plan still applies in that area until a new Tower Hamlets Local Plan replaces it.

58 conservation areas, from Spitalfields to Balfron Tower

Tower Hamlets Council lists 58 conservation areas, each with a character appraisal. They range from Georgian Spitalfields to Wapping's wharves and Balfron Tower, a 1960s block in Poplar that is a conservation area in its own right. In a conservation area, no unit can go on a wall or roof facing a road without planning permission.

The borough's Article 4 directions on the national planning data register cover changes of use, such as family homes to small shared houses, not outdoor units. Listed status and conservation areas still matter, so check your address with the council.

• Brick Lane and Fournier Street, Elder Street, Artillery Passage and Wentworth Street
• Bethnal Green Gardens, Old Bethnal Green Road, Globe Road and the Boundary Estate
• Victoria Park, Driffield Road, Tredegar Square and Roman Road Market
• Wapping Pierhead, Wapping Wall, Narrow Street and St George in the East
• Balfron Tower, Lansbury, All Saints Poplar and West India Dock
• Island Gardens, Coldharbour, Fish Island and White Post Lane, and Three Mills

Restaurants, shops and offices

We fit wall units and ceiling cassettes for restaurants around Brick Lane, shops on Whitechapel Road and Roman Road, studios in Fish Island and offices in Aldgate and Canary Wharf, and service existing systems in business hours.

In towers with central plant, our work is usually a tenant's server room or meeting room. We size kitchens and comms rooms from the heat load, and because business premises follow different planning rules from homes, we plan the outdoor position and noise data early.

Parking, the Congestion Charge and working hours

Tower Hamlets is moving from 16 mini parking zones back to four main zones: A around Bethnal Green, B around Bow, C around Shadwell and Stepney, and D around Poplar and Crossharbour. Estate roads have their own rules. When the van needs a bay, we ask the council to suspend one. It needs at least seven working days' notice. The council charges a £200 non-refundable application fee plus £90 per bay per day, and the fee goes on your quote.

The Congestion Charge zone's eastern edge follows Commercial Street and Mansell Street, on the borough's western fringe, so we check TfL's map for addresses around Spitalfields and Aldgate. The ULEZ covers all of London.

The council's hours for noisy building work are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Noisy work at weekends or on bank holidays needs the council's approval first, so we drill on weekdays.

Prices in Tower Hamlets

Our standard prices. Home prices include VAT and business prices are plus VAT. Planning drawings, acoustic reports and long internal 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

• Commercial wall unit

  Fitted in business hours

  from£1,795+ VAT

• Ceiling cassette

  In a suitable suspended ceiling

  from£2,750+ VAT

• An annual service

  Keeps the manufacturer warranty valid

  from£119inc. VAT

Neighbourhoods we cover

We work across the borough, including the E1, E1W, E2, E3 and E14 postcodes:

• Spitalfields, Whitechapel and Aldgate
• Bethnal Green and Globe Town
• Bow, Mile End, Bromley-by-Bow and Fish Island
• Stepney, Shadwell and Wapping
• Limehouse and Poplar
• Canary Wharf, the Isle of Dogs, Cubitt Town and Blackwall

Tower Hamlets questions