The Minister for Climate Change, Julie James MS, published the Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports on air source heat pump noise and permitted development rights in Wales on 10 January 2024, with a written statement following on 11 January1.
The reports examine the rule that governs where an air source heat pump can be installed without planning permission in Wales. Under current permitted development rights, an air source heat pump must be sited at least three metres from a neighbour's boundary, a condition intended to reduce the potential for noise nuisance1.
The Welsh Government said it commissioned acoustics experts to look at the reasoning behind that distance and to recommend whether the rules should change1. The Phase 1 report addresses "the primary question of whether noise is a central factor affecting ASHP placement outside domestic properties in Wales"2. The Phase 2 report "focuses on better understanding the obstacles to ASHP deployment related to noise, and developing responses to overcome these obstacles"3. Both documents were first published on 10 January 2024; the Phase 1 report is a redacted version, issued as a PDF of 3 MB, and the Phase 2 report is a PDF of 2 MB2.
The Welsh Government has not yet said whether it will alter the three-metre requirement. In the written statement, the minister said:
"We shall be reviewing the report's recommendations and shall provide an update in due course."
The recommendations themselves have not been reported in the published statement, which does not set out what the acoustics experts concluded. A later Welsh Government document, the Heat Strategy for Wales published in July 2024, describes the January 2024 release as "the results of a study conducted by acoustics experts, aimed at examining the evidence and making recommendations on whether the PDRs should be revised"4. No date has been given for the update the minister promised1.
Why it matters for households
The three-metre boundary rule shapes what a householder in Wales can do without a full planning application. A home with a small garden, a terrace, or a heat pump position close to a neighbouring property may fall outside permitted development rights, meaning a planning application and its costs and delays. If the distance requirement were relaxed, more installations could proceed as permitted development, which bears directly on how quickly and cheaply a home can move off fossil fuel heating. The reports also touch on the noise question that neighbours raise, and the balance between encouraging low carbon heating and avoiding nuisance is the tension the review was set up to examine1. For a household considering a heat pump, the current rule remains in force until any change is confirmed. The separate question of the noise limit where two heat pumps serve one detached house in Wales is treated elsewhere on this site.
What happens next
The Welsh Government has said it will review the reports' recommendations and provide an update in due course, without giving a date1. Any change to the permitted development distance requirement would need to be confirmed by the Welsh Government before it takes effect. The Heat Strategy for Wales, published in July 2024, refers back to the January 2024 study but does not announce a decision on the three-metre rule4.
Sources4 cited
- Written Statement: Publication of the “Air Source Heat Pump Noise & Permitted Development Rights in Wales” report (phase 1 & 2) (11 January 2024) | GOV.WALES, gov.wales
- Air source heat pump (ASHP) noise and permitted development rights in Wales: phase 1 report (redacted version) | GOV.WALES, gov.wales
- Air source heat pump (ASHP) noise and permitted development rights in Wales: phase 2 report | GOV.WALES, gov.wales
- Heat strategy for Wales, gov.wales