Running Flue through Property Above - Illegal?

elstimpo

martinsurrey wrote: »

There is your miss-understanding of listed buildings.

The issue is the increased divergence of the exterior of the building from when it was listed, and from what it was originally.

Any changes should make the building look more like it looked when it was built (and no worse). The current vents are small, a shade of stone and flush, your replacements would be protruding and black/silver.

you have existing holes for windows, but that doesn't mean you can put purple chunky UPVC window frames into a listed building, the same applies here.

I'm aware of strict rules for the 'facade' but this is right around the back and couldnt be more hidden from public view. Besides the wall it's going on is stain, had a door removed and i'm told the back of the building was built using much cheaper materials than the facade.

Huge amounts of listed buildings in London that are now used as commercial premises or dwellings that have had work done around the back and away from the facade in order to make them liveable and safe.

This is the wall, hardly a thing of beauty and as i say, hidden completely from public view.

take a screenshot

silvercar

I can't believe the window was allowed to be bricked up in grey stone rather than the beige colour that is the rest of the wall!

If you went ahead and used the existing vents, would that comply given that there is a window perpendicular to the vents that is openable?

On a technicality, the whole property is owned by the freeholder and each individual apartment is leased by leaseholders. So technically the flue will not be in an apartment owned by someone else as the freeholder owns the lot. SO that may give you a technical loophole to get around the fire proof walls to the flue.

Any reason you can't have inspection points from your apartment into the flue cavity?

ComicGeek

The boiler flue discharge point would have to be minimum of 300mm from the corner, so would look strange coming out from the existing vent location and offsetting. Would also need to be at least 300mm from the openable window, but that looks achievable.

Unfortunately buildings aren't listed because they are attractive, they are listed for their historical and architectural/social importance. On some projects we spend lots of time carefully sealing in listed features that no one is ever able to physically see until the wall is ripped down in 60 years time. I find conservation officers to be the least helpful and practical people ever, but I don't think they could do their job otherwise as everything would be slowly eroded anyway.

I do feel for you, as elec heating is just so expensive. An electric boiler and radiators is going to be even more expensive than direct electric panel heaters though.

baldelectrician

Is there no way your boiler can be repaired- it may be possible to have a heating engineer take parts from the boiler in the other flat