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Planning Permission for Air Source Heat Pumps

 
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Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)
Last Post by Mars 4 years ago
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 Sam
(@sam)
Trusted Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 24
19/04/2021 1:40 pm  

@desexeter

Hi, so if it's 80cm from my boundary, the developer has broken the rule and should be prepared to re-site it?


   
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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
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19/04/2021 3:04 pm  

@desexeter, thanks for the clarification - given that there are tens of thousands of these installed each year, it's crazy that there are no published guidelines anywhere (or do they just vary from council to council?)

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 Kev M
(@kev-m)
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19/04/2021 4:18 pm  
Posted by: @desexeter

**EXCEPTION** Listed building and/or conservation area. In that case planning permission IS required and conservation officer can be very directive about what's allowed. Even if the council has declared a climate emergency! Not that I'm bitter 🤣 

@desexeter, are you sure that is correct?  Do you have a link?  As far as I understood it, ASHPs that fulfil certain criteria fall under Permitted Development (PD).  And all PD is allowed by default in a Conservation Area unless there are any relevant Article 4 directions or you are a listed bulding, in which cases planning permission would be needed.  If I'm wrong I might be in trouble ...  

This post was modified 4 years ago by Kev M

   
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Morgan
 Morgan
(@morgan)
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Posts: 624
19/04/2021 5:50 pm  

I live in a conservation area and have been informed that I can have a ASHP installed without PP so long as I meet these guidelines here.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/27/heat_pumps/2

 

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 Jenny@ross
(@jennyross)
Estimable Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 63
27/04/2021 7:56 pm  

@kev-m I agree that a Certificate of Lawfulness is a starting point - perhaps a finishing one too. I found the following link useful for drawing site and location maps. These were inexpensive and I finished them off by hand myself. So nothing fancy. 

https://www.ukplanningmaps.com/


   
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 Jenny@ross
(@jennyross)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 63
27/04/2021 8:16 pm  

@editor and others - thank you for interesting commentary on planning permission. Completely agree that there's a huge tension between encouraging the public to invest in ASHPs and support the green economy and the lack of clear and helpful guidance around planning, coupled with the woeful response from (at least) our Local Authority in Scotland.

We are trying to go ahead with installation although at present are stuck with issues around planning permission. The law in Scotland is different to England of course - with more constraints it seems - although I'm not so sure now after reading some of the posts.
 
We are not in a statutory Conservation Area but we are located on a private estate and the title deeds to our property (which seemed to have been written in the Middle Ages) include absolutely no change to the external appearance of the property without the express permission of the owner. 
 
The following ‘rule’ is also problematic for us:
 
Scottish Government Guidance sec 6.19 for Air Source Heat Pumps
 
: development is not permitted within the curtilage of a building if any part of the installation would be forward of a wall forming part of the principal or side elevation of a building where that elevation fronts a road, or if any resulting ASHP structure would exceed 3 metres in height
 
At our home the only possible wall for installation is a side wall which does indeed ‘front’ a road - even though this is a private road used by the public and the ASHP would be located about 20m distance from this private road. It begs the question of what does ‘fronting’ a road actually mean in practice. Our Council has refused to comment unless we go through the full planning permission process and pay for the various stages of the process - at the very least a Certificate of Lawfulness. Added to this is the delay in process, particularly as the Council is currently offering only pared back services.
 
Anyway that’s our story so far and we need to persist. Actually I feel that our installer should deal with this as part of the MCS planning standards - especially given the costly estimate we have signed up to.
 
Grant UK say that they will do the checks required to ensure the installation will meet the requirements for permitted development at the site survey stage, 'and any concerns will be brought to your attention'. As we have opted for a Grant ASHP I called the supplier and spoke to a member of Grant’s G-Cert Scheme and discussed our particular issues with planning permission. Their view was that the installer should deal with or at least support any work required to get us through any planning process. I'm not sure that the installer agrees!

   
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 chaplito
(@chaplito)
Eminent Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 8
Topic starter 27/04/2021 8:49 pm  

Hi JennyRoss - I can't comment on planning in Scotland but my advice would be to persevere. I've finally got my planning application approved but apparently I can be made to change the installation at a later date if the neighbours complain to the Environment Health department about the noise levels, even though in theory they should be well within the government guidelines.  Throughout the process the planning department never provided any reasoning behind their concerns and whilst the installer provided guidance and help throughout the process it was ultimately up to me to respond to the planning department concerns.

Good luck with your application,

Tony


   
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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
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27/04/2021 8:58 pm  

@chaplito, I’m curious. Does EH have a noise and range limit?

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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 5 years ago
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27/04/2021 9:04 pm  

@jennyross, that sounds crazily complicated, and I’d definitely let the installers figure this all out because that is in part what they’re paid for. Please keep us updated.

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 Jenny@ross
(@jennyross)
Estimable Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 63
27/04/2021 9:47 pm  

@chaplito thank you. I’m not giving up

yet. Partly because I can’t face another winter like the one we’ve just had. 


   
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 Jenny@ross
(@jennyross)
Estimable Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 63
27/04/2021 9:47 pm  

@editor definitely will 😊 


   
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 Kev M
(@kev-m)
Famed Member Member
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 1276
27/04/2021 10:35 pm  

@jennyross, Interesting that it's different in Scotland.  My ASHP would not have been allowed in Scotland but is in England.  In a conservation area in England it can't 'front the highway'; in Scotland it specifically needs to be on the rear elevation. Mine is on the side although it's completely invisible from the road.  

In terms of 'fronting a road', is there a definition of 'road' anywhere that might preclude a private, unadopted road (if that's what it is)?  A lot of houses would have their side elevations facing next door's driveway; surely that doesn't count as fronting a road?

You could also search your local authority's planning portal (or others in Scotland) to see if there are any other ASHPs that have had to have permission.

Good luck anyway and keep us all updated.  Planning can be very frustrating.

This post was modified 4 years ago by Kev M

   
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