Air conditioning in Upminster

Who built Upminster's garden suburb?

An Ilford developer. Peter Griggs, who had been building the Cranbrook estate in Ilford since 1897, paid £20,000 for the first 150 acres of the Upminster Hall estate on 1 November 1906, laid the first brick on 17 November, and planned to lay out some 700 acres. Big detached villas went up along Hall Lane, semis north of the railway and smaller houses to the south, with 1907 prices running from £395 to £1,145 and George Verlyck as the company's architect. Central Upminster was fully built up by 1938.

Two in three households here live in semis. At the 2021 Census Upminster ward had 66.8% of households in semis, 15.4% in detached houses, 9.3% in flats and 5.1% in terraces, and 85.8% owned their home, 49.1% of households outright. A semi may carry one outdoor unit under permitted development, usually on the back wall below the bedroom it serves. Sources: Old Upminster; Hidden London; Area Insights, Upminster; Planning Portal.

What does the Hall Lane Policy Area mean for a house there?

Extra care over new building, but no conservation-area rules. Havering adopted guidance for about 56 hectares (138 acres) either side of Hall Lane, just north of the station, in February 2009. It describes large detached and semi-detached houses in big gardens and sets a minimum plot of 370 square metres and a ten-metre frontage for any new house, with flats limited to three storeys. The guidance is about new homes and extensions; it does not remove permitted development for an outdoor unit. Upminster Hall itself, on Hall Lane, dates from the 15th and 16th centuries and is listed at Grade II*, and there is no conservation area in the town centre, although Havering's 2024 character study recommended considering one. Sources: Hall Lane Policy Area guidance; Historic England, Upminster Hall; Havering character study.

Where do conservation rules apply around Upminster?

In Cranham and Corbets Tey. Cranham, designated on 2 April 1968, was one of Havering's first conservation areas; its church of All Saints, built in 1873, commemorates General James Oglethorpe, founder of the American state of Georgia, and Cranham Hall stands on the site of a house of about 1600, most of which was pulled down in 1790. The council says gates, walls and fences there need planning permission. Corbets Tey was designated in April 1990 and has a group of listed buildings including Harwood Hall of 1782. In both, the road side of a house is ruled out for the outdoor unit. Upminster's windmill, a Grade II* smock mill, reopened on 14 September 2023 after restoration, and the medieval Tithe Barn is a scheduled monument on Historic England's at-risk register. No Upminster ward is in Havering's selective licensing scheme. For the wider picture, see our air conditioning in Ilford page. Sources: Cranham appraisal; Havering Council; Corbets Tey appraisal; Havering Council, the windmill; Historic England, Tithe Barn; Havering Council, licensing; Planning Portal.

Services we offer in Upminster

All ten services below are available in Upminster. 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.