Third heatwave of the year. Before mid-July. It is hot.
Desperate households are scrambling. Portable ACs and fans vanished from shelves overnight. Left, right, centre, stock hit zero. It wasn’t just portable stuff though. Fixed installations saw a surge that would make any retail manager weep with joy.
Angus Struthers at BOXT points out the numbers don’t lie. Between May and June, AC sales jumped 249 year on year. Scotland grew by 233%. Brighton? A staggering 1700% spike in enquiries.
The Guardian reported the number of air-conditioned homes doubled to four million in three years. Four million.
So when the tabloids screamed about ripping units off walls, panic set in.
Is air conditioning actually illegal now?
No.
It’s not. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had to step in and clarify that media reports suggesting a ban are flat out wrong. You can install AC in new or existing homes. Usually, you don’t even need planning permission if the unit doesn’t change the building’s appearance.
Check with your local council. They should apply common sense, not rigid dogma.
Зміст
Where the rumour started
Some London homeowners got the axe. Their local authorities ordered them to tear out their cooling systems. Why? They were told to rely on “passive” cooling instead. Keep curtains shut during the peak sun. Open windows only when the evening air cools. Let cross-ventilation do the heavy lifting.
These forced removals usually happen because the install violated local planning or building regulations. Rules vary. London is stricter than most places.
Michael Whittall at Fairview New Homes explains the tension. AC makes a single home cool, yes. But it pumps that heat outside. When millions do this in a dense city, it worsens the urban heat island effect. Cities get hotter. Stress levels rise. It’s a collective action problem.
Then there’s the National Grid. Can it handle it?
Loughborough University researchers told the BBC it might break. If every household adopts AC, evening peak demand could jump by 7 gigawatts by 2050. That is a lot of extra power needed at 8 pm when everyone comes home wanting cool air.
Kian Milroy from Heatable acknowledges the risk. Millions of inefficient units clicking on at once during a heatwave is a legitimate grid fear.
But a ban?
Unlikely.
Martyn Bridges from Worcester Bosch thinks grid worries won’t stop AC sales. The grid is already upgrading anyway. Why? To handle electric vehicles and heat pumps. A standard air-to-air unit uses about 1.2kW. That is less power than a dishwasher running. Given the ongoing infrastructure work, Bridges sees no real case for a ban.
Milroy agrees. He doesn’t think banning is the answer either. The future lies in tighter standards, not prohibition. Better energy-efficiency requirements. Banning the worst portable units. Incentivizing modern systems that handle both heating and cooling.
“Smart tariffs and demand-response technology could help spread electricity use… encouraging households to pre-cool homes when renewable electricity is abundant.”
Use cheap solar power at midday to chill your house. Avoid the expensive, strained evening peak. That seems smarter than prohibition.
Do you need permission?
Maybe. Maybe not. It depends.
If you are installing a fitted unit (which is technically an air-to-air heat pump), it might fall under “Permitted Development.” You generally don’t need permission if the system heats and cools, and doesn’t annoy neighbors with noise or placement near property lines.
Always check.
If you skip that step and fall foul of rules, you pay the price. The council can enforce removal. You foot the bill.
Live in a Conservation Area? A National Park? An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty? Permitted development rights might vanish here. You will need planning permission. Listed buildings? You need Listed Building Consent. No shortcuts there.
Portable units are different. They sit exempt from planning rules mostly. But if they are loud enough to drive neighbors up the wall, the council will step in once complaints roll in. Noise pollution is real.
What should you do?
Talk to your local authority. Before you spend thousands, verify if your specific plot has restrictions. Secure your investment.
Hire a good installer. They should know the rules better than you do. They shouldn’t guess.
Already got an AC unit? Worried it’s illegal? You might try for retrospective permission. It’s worth a shot.
But there’s no guarantee they will say yes.
