Air Conditioning in a Greenwich home by Future Home Energy
F-Gas Registered • SE3, SE7, SE9, SE10, SE18, SE28

Air Conditioning Installation in Greenwich

Split and multi-room air conditioning for Greenwich homes, designed around the one thing that decides the job here: where the outdoor unit is allowed to go.

1 Day
Typical Install
A+++
Efficiency Rated
Heat
& Cool Year-Round
Free
Home Survey
South East London

Air Conditioning in Greenwich

Air conditioning in Greenwich is not really a question about the indoor unit. It is a question about the condenser. This borough has 23 conservation areas, three of them under Article 4 directions, 542 listed buildings and a World Heritage Site buffer zone, and every one of those affects where an outdoor unit may legally sit. Get that wrong and the choice is an enforcement notice or a second installation at your own cost.

The rule most people have not caught up with is that permitted development for air source units changed on 29 May 2025. A unit may now sit within a metre of your boundary, and the size cap on a house rose to 1.5 cubic metres. That is genuinely more permissive than it was. What did not change is the conservation area condition: the unit must not go on a wall or roof fronting a highway, nor closer to a bounding highway than the building itself. In practice that pushes almost every Greenwich install to a rear or concealed flank position, and the pipe run has to be designed around that from the start.

The properties that most need cooling here are the ones where this is hardest. A loft conversion in a West Greenwich terrace is unusable by mid-July, has no cavity to hide pipework in, and fronts a street inside an Article 4 area. That job is entirely solvable, but not by someone who has priced it over the phone. We survey, agree the condenser position and the route, confirm the planning position in writing, and then give you a fixed price.

Local detail

Siting a Condenser in Greenwich

Four situations cover most of the borough, and each one changes where the outdoor unit ends up.

Article 4 Streets: West Greenwich, East Greenwich, Ashburnham Triangle

These carry Article 4 directions on top of conservation area status, which strips out permitted development rights for most external alterations. Assume nothing goes on a street elevation. We look for a rear wall, a garden position or a flat-roof extension, and where the property is mid-terrace with no rear access we will tell you honestly if the pipe run makes it uneconomic rather than quoting and hoping.

Listed Buildings

There are 542 in the borough, heavily concentrated around the town centre and Blackheath. Listed building consent is required for an external unit regardless of permitted development, and it is a separate application from planning. We identify the status at the survey and hold the installation date until consent is granted. We will not fit first and deal with it later, because that becomes your problem, not ours.

Peninsula & Kidbrooke Flats

Newer blocks are simpler on planning and harder on permission. The volume cap for a flat is 0.6 cubic metres rather than 1.5, and the freeholder or management company almost always has to consent in writing before anything is fixed to the building. Balcony positions are common and workable. Some leases rule an external unit out entirely, and where they do, we say so at the survey.

Solid-Wall Terraces & Loft Conversions

Georgian and Victorian stock has no cavity, so refrigerant pipework either runs in a carefully planned internal route or is boxed externally at the rear. Loft rooms in these houses are the single most common air conditioning job in Greenwich, because they sit under an uninsulated or barely insulated roof and hold heat all night. A single split system usually fixes it in a day.

Coverage

Where We Work in Greenwich

Postcode districts
  • SE2
  • SE3
  • SE7
  • SE8
  • SE9
  • SE10
  • SE18
  • SE28
Neighbourhoods
  • Greenwich
  • Blackheath
  • Charlton
  • Westcombe Park
  • Greenwich Peninsula
  • Woolwich
  • Plumstead
  • Shooters Hill
  • Eltham
  • New Eltham
  • Kidbrooke
  • Abbey Wood
  • Thamesmead
  • Ashburnham Triangle

Read more about air conditioning across London, or see every area we cover.

Common questions

Air Conditioning in Greenwich FAQ

Do I need planning permission for air conditioning in Greenwich?
Often not, but Greenwich is more restricted than most London boroughs. Since 29 May 2025 an air source outdoor unit can sit within a metre of your boundary and can be up to 1.5 cubic metres on a house, which is more permissive than the old rules. In a conservation area, and 23 parts of this borough are conservation areas, the unit still must not go on a wall or roof fronting a highway, or nearer to a bounding highway than the building. Listed buildings and flats are separate cases. We confirm your property's exact status at the survey before you commit.
What is an Article 4 direction and does it stop me having air conditioning?
It removes permitted development rights that would otherwise apply, and in this borough West Greenwich, East Greenwich and the Ashburnham Triangle carry one. It does not stop you having air conditioning. It means the outdoor unit needs a position that is not publicly visible from the highway, and it may mean a formal application. Most of these properties are still perfectly serviceable from a rear wall or garden position.
Can I have air conditioning in a flat on Greenwich Peninsula?
Usually yes, with two conditions. The outdoor unit for a flat is capped at 0.6 cubic metres rather than the 1.5 allowed on a house, and your lease will almost certainly require the freeholder's written consent before anything is fixed to the building. Balconies and designated plant positions are the normal answer. We check the lease position and the physical route at the survey, and we do not start until consent is in place.
My Greenwich house is listed. Can you still install air conditioning?
Yes, but it needs listed building consent because an external unit and a wall penetration are alterations to the fabric. That is a separate consent from planning permission and both may be needed. We have worked in listed property across the borough. We will tell you at the survey what is required, and we hold the date until it is granted.
Will air conditioning heat my Greenwich home in winter too?
Yes. Every system we fit is a reversible air-to-air heat pump, so the same unit heats the room in winter as efficiently as it cools it in summer. For every 1kW of electricity it draws it typically moves 3 to 4kW of heat. In a period terrace with high heat loss that makes it a genuinely cheap way to warm one room in spring and autumn without firing the boiler for the whole house.
How long does an air conditioning installation take in Greenwich?
A single room split system is normally one day. A multi-room system across three or four rooms takes two to three. Where the property is in a conservation area or listed, the installation itself is no longer, but the consent beforehand can add weeks, so start the conversation earlier than you think you need to.
Which parts of Greenwich do you cover for air conditioning?
All of the Royal Borough: SE10 Greenwich, SE3 Blackheath, SE7 Charlton, SE18 Woolwich and Plumstead, SE9 Eltham, SE28 Thamesmead and SE2 Abbey Wood, plus Kidbrooke and the Peninsula. Call 07538 192738 if you want your postcode confirmed.
How noisy is the outdoor unit, and will my neighbours object?
Modern condensers are quiet, but the position matters more than the decibel figure on the brochure. A unit facing a neighbour's bedroom window across a narrow Greenwich garden is a problem regardless of how quiet it is. Part of the survey is choosing a position that keeps noise away from boundaries, and MCS 020a, which the installation has to comply with anyway, sets a noise limit assessed at the nearest neighbouring window.
Booking in Greenwich

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