Historically, the rules for the location of an air source heat pump serving a domestic property, blocked the unit from being within one metre of the property’s boundary (three metres in Wales).
This was mainly due to noise disruption to neighbouring properties and, if a heat pump was planned to go within the restricted area, planning permission was needed.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has now announced some changes to these rules and have amended the existing permitted development rights.
The main changes are:
• Remove the 1m boundary rule, enabling heat pumps to be installed within 1m of the property boundary.
• Increase the size limit of the heat pump for dwelling houses from 0.6m³ to 1.5m³.
• Double the number of heat pumps permitted, from one to two for detached dwelling houses.
• Support the roll-out of air-to-air heat pumps that can also provide a cooling function.
There is still a requirement that new installations are compliant with the relevant MCS planning standards, and this standard (Ref MCS 020) has also changed.
MCS has detailed the keys changes and improvements to MCS 020:
• The standards being split into two
– 020(a) for air source heat pumps
020 (b) for small wind turbines.
• Definition of what is considered a solid barrier.
• How to determine the assessment position.
• Definition of what can be considered a reflective surface.
• Definition of a habitable room.
• Simplified the sound calculation with an overall limit of 37 dB(A).
• Provided a guidance document for installers.
Installation businesses holding MCS registration are asked to get familiar with the new rules for permitted development and the revised MCS 020 standard is available on the MCS website https://mcscertified.com/
