Air conditioning unit on side of neighbour's house - best approach?

General_Grant

Sunsaru said:

Doc_N said:

Adsta said:

As loopholes are used elsewhere in law. How would you be able to prove or disprove that an outdoor unit is not only used for heating? Outdoor units for both Heat Pumps and AC can look almost identical. 

Or if questioned you just state its only used for heating even if it has cooling functionality. How would that stand I wonder...

Thus if it is only used for heating, is exempt. 

I imagine a quick check by the enforcement team on the installation paperwork, and the installation, would establish whether it was used only to heat.

Or would it work like the TV license, if it's capable of cooling (even if it's not used) then it would need PP. Right now there is a lot of fingers in the wind...

How would it be like TV licensing?  If you have equipment which is capable of receiving live TV broadcasts but it is never used for that purpose, then you don't need a TV licence.

Doc_N

SouthLondonUser said:

Like I said, most aircon installations are non-compliant.

As for business, like I said it's to do with the noise: if the closest neighbours of a business overlook a busy A road, chances are that the noise of the aircon will be much lower than the noise of traffic.

Lots of people install one anyway and get away with it. I wasn't going to chance it, especially with a neighbour from hell, and especially with something as expensive as air conditioning.

A quick search on the planning portal of any council will show applications for air conditioning, with noise assessment etc - even for residential installations.

This is one for a supermarket: https://planning.wandsworth.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning Applications On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=1009244&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Wandsworth/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning Application Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Wandsworth/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

and one for a house: https://planning.wandsworth.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning Applications On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=882404&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Wandsworth/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning Application Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=&DAURI=PLANNING

view associated documents - reports - noise impact etc

AFAIK these are England-wide rules but you are welcome to contact your council to check.

The rules apply across England. Actually, laws rather than just rules.  I seem to recall the OP talking about a quiet rural location, and if that’s the case it’s going to be far harder to get PP than in a noisy urban one, or on an estate. The impact, visually and from a noise standpoint, would be that much greater.

mat1964

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Doc_N

mat1964 said:

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Correction: planning permission was needed, and if someone complains to the planning authority you may be required to remove the entire external system.

SuperHung

Doc_N said:

mat1964 said:

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Correction: planning permission was needed, and if someone complains to the planning authority you may be required to remove the entire external system.

If someone snitches, then the owner can apply for a retrospective planning permission. Unless it is built dangerously and too close to boundaries then no one gives a toss except a few jealous people on this forum.

If the aircon has been installed more than 4 years ago, no planning permission needed. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/171B

Doc_N

SuperHung said:

Doc_N said:

mat1964 said:

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Correction: planning permission was needed, and if someone complains to the planning authority you may be required to remove the entire external system.

If someone snitches, then the owner can apply for a retrospective planning permission. Unless it is built dangerously and too close to boundaries then no one gives a toss except a few jealous people on this forum.

If the aircon has been installed more than 4 years ago, no planning permission needed. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/171B

I doubt anyone here is jealous of these things! And the 4 year rule isn’t quite as clear cut as you suggest. It’s hedged with caveats.

The OP made some derogatory remark about Londoners importing their unpleasant habits into rural villages. Having witnessed this many times over, I agree. Not always, of course, but very frequently. They think they like the idea of living in the country, then find they don’t like it and start trying to change it to make it like the London they left behind. This looks like another one. Probably floodlights all over the house too, destroying the night sky.

lookstraightahead

Doc_N said:

SuperHung said:

Doc_N said:

mat1964 said:

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Correction: planning permission was needed, and if someone complains to the planning authority you may be required to remove the entire external system.

If someone snitches, then the owner can apply for a retrospective planning permission. Unless it is built dangerously and too close to boundaries then no one gives a toss except a few jealous people on this forum.

If the aircon has been installed more than 4 years ago, no planning permission needed. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/171B

I doubt anyone here is jealous of these things! And the 4 year rule isn’t quite as clear cut as you suggest. It’s hedged with caveats.

The OP made some derogatory remark about Londoners importing their unpleasant habits into rural villages. Having witnessed this many times over, I agree. Not always, of course, but very frequently. They think they like the idea of living in the country, then find they don’t like it and start trying to change it to make it like the London they left behind. This looks like another one. Probably floodlights all over the house too, destroying the night sky.

I hate to bite.

How funny! You've not lived in many places have you.

Doc_N

lookstraightahead said:

Doc_N said:

SuperHung said:

Doc_N said:

mat1964 said:

I installed AC a year ago.  Hid the unit at ground level at the side of the house and no planning permission was needed.

Correction: planning permission was needed, and if someone complains to the planning authority you may be required to remove the entire external system.

If someone snitches, then the owner can apply for a retrospective planning permission. Unless it is built dangerously and too close to boundaries then no one gives a toss except a few jealous people on this forum.

If the aircon has been installed more than 4 years ago, no planning permission needed. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/171B

I doubt anyone here is jealous of these things! And the 4 year rule isn’t quite as clear cut as you suggest. It’s hedged with caveats.

The OP made some derogatory remark about Londoners importing their unpleasant habits into rural villages. Having witnessed this many times over, I agree. Not always, of course, but very frequently. They think they like the idea of living in the country, then find they don’t like it and start trying to change it to make it like the London they left behind. This looks like another one. Probably floodlights all over the house too, destroying the night sky.

I hate to bite.

How funny! You've not lived in many places have you.

Across the UK, actually.  The problem started a few years back when Londoners discovered places like Norfolk (Chelsea on Sea), Cornwall, and more recently Somerset.  Perfectly nice places have been ruined by incomers complaining about church bells, complaining that they're woken up by a tractor at 6am, complaining about agricultural smells, pushing up prices to such an extent that local youngsters have to move away, floodlighting their gardens, tarmacing over gardens etc etc.

Believe me, Londoners are hated in most rural areas for the damage they do to those areas - and this looks like yet another example.

ispookie666

We are going off on a tangent. 
The planning rules regarding these are very grey, when I contacted south Cambridgeshire, they had no interest in it, if I was installing single unit. As I was having two units installed, I applied for permission.  I got fed up of waiting and just installed it. I did not require noise assessment for the 3.5kw units. But if I wanted to install the bigger one(7.1 kw) they did ask for one.  Before anyone jumps on about this, I have a 40yr old oil boiler and in no way can make any economic sense to get a water based ASHP. 

The amount of condensate produced while cooling is going to be a factor if anyone is thinking of ASHP with circulating water. 

mjm3346

If they are forced to move it there is nothing in planning regs to stop them simply mounting a box in it's place that is not connected to anything (perhaps a nice large white bird box)