Air conditioning in Romford

Where does Romford's conservation area run?

Around the Market Place and, since 2025, further south. Romford received its first market charter in 1247, and the conservation area designated in 1968 protects the market and the old buildings around the crossroads. Its boundary stayed the same until a review adopted on 17 September 2025 extended it south of the Market Place, to take in early and mid-20th-century shops and department stores, and down the pedestrianised eastern end of South Street. Inside it are the parish church of St Edward the Confessor, listed at Grade II*, and Church House, the Lamb and the Golden Lion at Grade II. The appraisal notes rooftop plant that can be seen in longer views across the Market Place and discourages new dishes on walls the public can see, preferring the rear.

For a shop or flat inside the boundary, that means looking at the back of the building first. Permitted development for outdoor units does not cover shops and other commercial premises, and for homes in a conservation area it rules out walls and roofs facing a road. Sources: Romford conservation area appraisal; Havering Council; Havering Council, 2025 appraisals; Planning Portal; Planning Portal.

How many new flats are planned for Romford?

Thousands. Havering's Local Plan expects more than 6,000 new homes in the Romford Strategic Development Area, and the Greater London Authority's profile of the Romford Opportunity Area counts 5,000 to 2041, with 373 finished between 2019/20 and 2023/24 and more than 900 under construction. At Bridge Close, outline consent covers 1,070 homes, with a first phase of 383 in a nine-storey building and two of 14 storeys; at the Waterloo and Queen Street estate, 1,380 homes are planned. Romford station was rebuilt inside with new lifts and a northern entrance, and since 6 November 2022 Elizabeth line trains have run from Romford through central London to Paddington.

New flats are built airtight, and since 15 June 2022 new homes have had to meet the overheating rule in Approved Document O. Even so, a whole block shares a single outdoor unit under permitted development, so in a new building the freeholder or managing agent decides what can be fitted, and where. Sources: Havering Local Plan; Greater London Authority; Inside Housing; Havering Council; Network Rail; Planning Portal; Planning Portal.

Who rents in Romford, and which licences apply?

A larger share of households than anywhere else in Havering. St Alban's ward has the borough's highest share of private renters, 35.0%, and St Edward's ward the highest share of flats, 41.6%, with 28.9% renting privately. Across Havering as a whole private renting rose from 10.6% in 2011 to 15.8% in 2021, still the second-lowest share in Greater London. Since 18 March 2026 selective licensing has covered seven Havering wards, among them St Edward's, St Alban's and Rush Green and Crowlands, and every smaller shared house in the borough needs a licence too; both schemes run to 17 March 2031. Since 13 July 2016, turning a flat, terrace or semi anywhere in Havering into a small shared house has needed planning permission, and in the former Romford Town and Brooklands wards that applies to every home. In August 2026 the council consulted on extending it to every home in the borough, to take effect a year after the new direction is made. None of this stops a landlord fitting air conditioning, and a tenant still needs the landlord's agreement before we start. Our air conditioning in Ilford page covers the same questions across Redbridge. Sources: Area Insights, St Alban's; Area Insights, St Edward's; ONS; Havering Council, licensing; Havering Council, Article 4; proposed borough-wide direction.

Services we offer in Romford

All ten services below are available in Romford. 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.