Air con / heat pumps in the UK
Jul. 13th, 2023 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennystI live in a flat and have been working on trying to get myself a combined "mini-split" air con/heat pump system, that will give me air conditioning in summer, and efficient eco-friendly air-source heat pump heating in winter. I have been documenting some of the process as it's remarkably painful and it's something I think more people should do in future. Technology Connections on YouTube has some great videos about the benefits of these systems.
You need permission from your freeholder if you live in a flat in the UK. This may be easy if you are part of the freeholder company, and harder if it's a holding company or managing agent.
You need permission from your local council in the UK. D-Air's advice site says it's permitted development, but Wandsworth says that only applies to houses, and that flats don't have permitted development. The Government Planning Portal says permitted dev for air source heat pumps if heating only, so may not apply if cooling as well.
Also, building control approval: The company doing the work need to get it.
To make the process easier for flats, petition for leaseholders would be a help but was rejected. Lease-Advice's page on charges has useful background about the freeholder charges.
Every council having permitted development rules for air con in flats would help a lot. Wandsworth council confirmed it needs planning permission.
For Planning Permission, you can apply online at planning-portal.co.uk. They say:
You would be required to submit supporting documentation with any of the applications, including a short planning statement and scaled drawings of the existing and proposed plan and elevation drawings (in relation to the placement of the pump), a fire safety strategy, location plan and a completed Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Form. You must also include sufficient details of the proposed air source heat pump. (This can be in the form of brochures, manufacturer specification sheets, detailed drawings and quotation sheets, etc.). please also note that further to initial assessment a noise impact assessment and details of suitable noise and vibration attenuation measures maybe requested by officers if not initially submitted at the application stage.
A heat pump via an MCS certified firm has £5k knocked off the price by the government, and the company does the admin. But I got mixed responses from installer companies about if this applies for air con/heat pump combined unit, and haven't yet reached a conclusion.
Several architects from Local Surveyors Direct will help with a survey, drawings, planning permission process.
A lot of the air con companies will install it cowboy-style without planning permission, and a lot of people risk it and get away with it, but that's a gamble I'd rather not take. It's very common to go ahead and do it without permission, but it's technically illegal, and there's a risk of being made to remove it, possibly at short notice with someone else choosing the contractor, and fines and other problems.
You need permission from your freeholder if you live in a flat in the UK. This may be easy if you are part of the freeholder company, and harder if it's a holding company or managing agent.
You need permission from your local council in the UK. D-Air's advice site says it's permitted development, but Wandsworth says that only applies to houses, and that flats don't have permitted development. The Government Planning Portal says permitted dev for air source heat pumps if heating only, so may not apply if cooling as well.
Also, building control approval: The company doing the work need to get it.
To make the process easier for flats, petition for leaseholders would be a help but was rejected. Lease-Advice's page on charges has useful background about the freeholder charges.
Every council having permitted development rules for air con in flats would help a lot. Wandsworth council confirmed it needs planning permission.
For Planning Permission, you can apply online at planning-portal.co.uk. They say:
You would be required to submit supporting documentation with any of the applications, including a short planning statement and scaled drawings of the existing and proposed plan and elevation drawings (in relation to the placement of the pump), a fire safety strategy, location plan and a completed Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Form. You must also include sufficient details of the proposed air source heat pump. (This can be in the form of brochures, manufacturer specification sheets, detailed drawings and quotation sheets, etc.). please also note that further to initial assessment a noise impact assessment and details of suitable noise and vibration attenuation measures maybe requested by officers if not initially submitted at the application stage.
A heat pump via an MCS certified firm has £5k knocked off the price by the government, and the company does the admin. But I got mixed responses from installer companies about if this applies for air con/heat pump combined unit, and haven't yet reached a conclusion.
Several architects from Local Surveyors Direct will help with a survey, drawings, planning permission process.
A lot of the air con companies will install it cowboy-style without planning permission, and a lot of people risk it and get away with it, but that's a gamble I'd rather not take. It's very common to go ahead and do it without permission, but it's technically illegal, and there's a risk of being made to remove it, possibly at short notice with someone else choosing the contractor, and fines and other problems.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-13 03:12 pm (UTC)