Air conditioning in Chigwell

What changes once you cross into Essex?

The council and several of the rules. Chigwell is governed by Epping Forest District Council, not a London borough, so the London Plan does not apply and neither do Redbridge's landlord schemes next door. The district has 26 conservation areas, and Chigwell Village, designated on 2 October 1969, is the only one in Chigwell; Chigwell Row has none. Of the district's eight Article 4 directions, not one is in Chigwell. The council's landlord page describes only the national mandatory licence for larger shared houses of five or more people, where Redbridge, across the boundary, runs selective licensing in 17 wards. The district's population rose 8.3% between 2011 and 2021, to about 135,000. Sources: Epping Forest District Council; planning.data.gov.uk; Article 4 directions; shared houses; ONS.

Why do Chigwell homes usually have room for an outdoor unit?

Because so many are detached and stand in their own grounds. Across Epping Forest District, 23.1% of households lived in detached houses at the 2021 Census, against 7.0% in Redbridge, 4.1% in Waltham Forest and 1.4% in Hackney. Private renting is low by London standards: 14.9% of households in 2021, up from 11.0% in 2011. Permitted development lets a detached house carry two outdoor units, provided each heats as well as cools and passes the sound test at the neighbour's window, so placing them out of sight is rarely a problem.

Heating is the other half of the decision. Census figures republished for Chigwell parish show 81% of households on mains gas alone and 6% on electricity alone. For a gas-heated house a reversible unit is mainly a summer purchase that also takes the chill off a cold room; for an all-electric one it can be much cheaper to run than direct electric heating. The running costs guide has the sums. Sources: Area Insights, Epping Forest; Area Insights, Redbridge; Area Insights, Waltham Forest; Area Insights, Hackney; ONS; Planning Portal; censusdata.uk.

What about the village centre and the King's Head?

That is where Chigwell's rules tighten. The Chigwell Village conservation area takes in the High Road around St Mary's Church and the King's Head, a 17th-century inn extended in the 19th and 20th centuries and listed at Grade II* since 28 June 1954. A caption in Historic England's photo archive records it as the model Charles Dickens used for the Maypole in Barnaby Rudge. Inside the conservation area, permitted development keeps an outdoor unit off any wall or roof facing a road and out of the ground between the building and the road; on a listed building there is no permitted development for one at all, and listed building consent is needed. Sources: planning.data.gov.uk; Historic England, the King's Head; Historic England archive; Planning Portal; the 1990 Act, section 7.

How does the Green Belt shape Chigwell?

It keeps the open land around it open, with a few exceptions. In 2018 the council put 92.4% of the district inside the Metropolitan Green Belt. The Local Plan for 2011 to 2033, adopted on 6 March 2023, released some of it: government figures show the district's Green Belt falling by 840 hectares, from 31,670 to 30,830, in the year to 31 March 2023. The plan's Chigwell allocations include about 105 specialist homes off Froghall Lane, about 65 at Chigwell Nurseries and about 11 on the Maypole site. Any new home built there comes under Approved Document O, the overheating rule for new residential buildings, which older Chigwell houses never had to meet. For the wider picture across Redbridge, see our air conditioning in Ilford page. Sources: Epping Forest District Council, 2018; Local Plan adoption statement; GOV.UK Green Belt statistics; Local Plan policy P7; Planning Portal.

Services we offer in Chigwell

All ten services below are available in Chigwell. Each card opens a page on what the work involves.

What happens after you get in touch?

1. A short call about the building

   Phone 020 8176 6154 or send the form. We ask what kind of property it is, which rooms you want cooler or warmer, and whether you own the wall the pipes would pass through, so the visit covers what matters.

2. A visit, measurements and a written quote

   At the property we size the room, find a spot for the outdoor unit, work out the sound level at the closest neighbouring window and check that the fuse board can take a new circuit. The quote follows on paper, with the electrical work and any access equipment on separate lines.

3. Agreement before anything is ordered

   If a freeholder, landlord, managing agent or the council must approve the work, nothing is bought until they do. We supply the plan and noise figure they normally want to see.

4. Fitting day and handover

   We fix both units, run the pipes, drain and cable, pressure-test the pipework and pull a vacuum on it before any refrigerant goes in, then check the system in cooling and in heating. We go through the controls with you and leave the paperwork. A yearly service keeps it efficient.