Air conditioning in a
new-build home
New homes are built to keep heat in, and plenty of them do it too well: big windows, airtight walls and a top floor that holds the afternoon until midnight. Adding cooling is common, and a new build changes a few things about how it is done.
- Free survey, and we tell you what the property will and will not take
- Fixed written price before anything starts
- Permission position checked for your address first
Accredited, and fitting the brands you know
Air conditioning we have fitted
Our own jobs, photographed on site. Real rooms, real outdoor positions, nothing from a catalogue.
Air conditioning
Outdoor unit on wall brackets
Above brick, isolator and cabling run tidy
Air conditioning
Condenser going up on straps
Lifted into a wall position, no scaffold
Air conditioning
Wall unit, commissioned
Set to 24 degrees and handed over
Air conditioning
Black wall unit in a sitting room
Chosen to sit with the room, not against it
Air conditioning
Ceiling cassette
Recessed flush into the ceiling
Air conditioning
Samsung Wind-Free
Cooling without a draught on the room
Air conditioning
Rooftop commissioning
Pressure tested and charged on gauges
Air conditioning
Outdoor unit at ground level
On paving beside the house, easy to service
Air conditioning
Black wall unit, running
Quiet enough for a bedroom
Air conditioning
One-way ceiling cassette
Only the grille shows
Air conditioning
Outdoor unit on paving
Against render, clear of the boundary
Air conditioning
Condenser high on a wall
On brackets where the ground was not an option
A new-build home is usually one of the easier places to fit air conditioning. A bedroom costs 2,400 to 3,500 pounds fitted, and a whole house of four or five rooms 8,400 to 14,000 pounds. Nothing in the regulations stops you adding it.
What a new build changes is the paperwork and the care taken with the walls: the developer's warranty, any estate rules, and keeping an airtight house airtight.
Read the full guide: 7 sections, about 3 minutes
What a new build changes
| Feature | What it means | Effect on the installation |
|---|---|---|
| Airtight construction | Built and tested to a low air leakage; every hole in the wall is a potential leak | Pipe penetrations sealed and taped, not just filled |
| Timber frame walls | Common on new estates; the wall is not solid masonry | Brackets fixed into the frame, located before drilling |
| MVHR ventilation | Fresh air with heat recovery, but no real cooling | Air conditioning works alongside it, not instead of it |
| The developer's warranty | Structural cover for the first years, with conditions | The terms are checked before the external wall is drilled |
| Estate or management company rules | Many new estates restrict what goes on the elevations | Consent first, as it would be for a flat |
| Designed against overheating | Homes since June 2022 are designed to limit it | It helps, and a west-facing top floor can still overheat |
Are new builds allowed air conditioning?
Yes. There is no ban. Since June 2022, Part O of the Building Regulations has required new homes in England to be designed to limit overheating, mainly with window sizes, shading and ventilation. That is a rule for the architect and the developer, not a restriction on the owner.
Adding air conditioning to a finished home afterwards is an ordinary alteration, and the electrical side is certified by an NICEIC approved contractor as it would be on any other house.
The warranty and the estate rules come first
Most new homes carry a ten-year structural warranty, and some policies and some developers have conditions about alterations in the early years. Drilling a 65mm hole through an external wall is an alteration, so the terms are worth reading before the survey.
Many new estates also have a management company, or covenants in the transfer, that control what can be fixed to the front elevation. The rear is usually fine; the front often is not. We give you the unit positions and the equipment details to send for approval, at no charge.
Timber frame, airtight walls and MVHR
A lot of new houses are timber framed behind the brick or render. The indoor unit's bracket is fixed into the frame, and the studs are found before anything is drilled, rather than trusting the plasterboard.
The house was built airtight and tested, and every pipe that goes through the wall is sealed back to that standard with a proper grommet and tape at the airtight layer. A hole filled with expanding foam is a draught and a condensation point in the making.
If the house has MVHR, keep it running. It supplies fresh air and recovers heat; the air conditioning does the cooling. The two do different jobs and work together.
Buying off-plan? Ask now
Before the plaster goes on is the cheapest moment there will ever be to add air conditioning. Pipework can be run inside the walls and ceilings, and a slim ducted system can be hidden completely, with only grilles showing.
Some buyers go further and add solar panels and a battery at the same time. Our new-build roof in Cricklewood shows how that is done without drilling the roof.
What it costs
| Scope | System | Installed price |
|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | 2.0 to 3.5kW wall unit | £2,400 to £3,500 |
| Two rooms on one outdoor unit | Multi-split | £4,300 to £5,800 |
| Three rooms | Multi-split | £6,400 to £8,600 |
| Whole house, four or five rooms | Multi-split or two outdoor units | £8,400 to £14,000 |
| Slim ducted, planned before the ceilings close | Grilles only, units concealed | Add £900 to £1,500 |
Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.
Other property types
Listed buildings
London has tens of thousands of listed homes, offices and shops, and most of them can have air conditioning.
Listed buildingsPeriod houses
Most of inner London's housing was built before anybody imagined cooling it.
Period housesTerraced houses
A terrace gives you one usable elevation and a neighbour close enough to hear everything.
Terraced housesWhole house
Doing the whole house at once is cheaper per room than doing it a room at a time, and it is not always the right answer.
Whole houseFlats
Two permissions rather than one, the licence pack, and the order that decides whether it is expensive.
Leasehold flats
Your estimate
£2,400to£3,200
Supplied, fitted, commissioned and certificated. Includes VAT.
Send this on WhatsAppPrice it for this property
Where the outdoor unit can go is the adjustment that moves a price most in this kind of property, so it is the second question.
Last step: where do we send your written price?
Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.
New-build homes: common questions
Will fitting air conditioning affect my new-build warranty?
It depends on the policy and the developer's terms, so read them first. Most are concerned with alterations to the structure and the waterproofing, and a properly sealed pipe penetration is neither.
If the provider wants details before you go ahead, we supply the positions, the hole sizes and the equipment.
My new-build flat overheats. What can I do?
In a flat the freeholder or management company decides first, and many new blocks were built with a designated place for an outdoor unit on the balcony.
Air conditioning in a leasehold flat sets out the consent and the order to do it in.
Does air conditioning work with MVHR?
Yes, alongside it. The MVHR supplies fresh air and recovers heat, the air conditioning cools. Switching the MVHR off in summer to 'help' the cooling makes the air stale.
Some MVHR units have a summer bypass, which should be left to work as designed.
Can I add solar panels to a new build as well?
Yes, and a new flat roof is often the best place for them, on frames held down by weight. See the Cricklewood job.
Free survey, and an honest answer about the building
We look at what the property will actually take before anybody quotes anything, and if the answer is that a room is not worth doing, we will say so.
Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm, Sunday closed
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