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Boiler installation in OlneyMK46
A limestone market town at the top of the Milton Keynes area, with modern estates on the west side. The two halves of Olney throw up very different boiler jobs. Here is what to check before anyone drills a hole in your wall.
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Local context
Olney in brief, if you are replacing a boiler
Not a history lesson. Only the parts of the town that change how the work is planned and priced.
Olney sits at the northern edge of the Milton Keynes City Council area. It has its own town council at the Olney Centre on the High Street, but Milton Keynes City Council is the unitary authority and it decides planning applications here.
Milton Keynes City Council lists the town centre among the 27 conservation areas it holds, with a designation date of 10 March 1969. The town's neighbourhood plan describes it running north from the river to take in the medieval church, the market place and the High Street, which is lined with listed buildings.
The Buckinghamshire historic towns assessment of Olney, produced with English Heritage and the support of Milton Keynes Council, carried out between 2008 and 2012, counted 114 listed buildings here, one Grade I and four Grade II*. It also explains why the place looks the way it does: the bedrock is Great Oolite limestone, and most of the historic buildings along the High Street are built from it.
We are a referral service, not an installer. Your details go to an independent Gas Safe registered installer, who visits, surveys and quotes you direct.
The old town
Stone walls, flues and the Article 4 Direction
Nobody can tell you what is behind your walls from a postcode. These are the things that come up often in buildings of this age, and the checks worth making before anyone books a date.
Homes of this age often have thick solid walls, which turns the flue route into a decision rather than a formality. Coring through stone takes longer, and where the terminal can go is less flexible than on a modern cavity wall. A chimney breast may well be sitting on the wall you had earmarked, and the gas pipe may have been sized for something far smaller.
What the Article 4 Direction covers
There is an Article 4 Direction over the Olney conservation area. Milton Keynes City Council states it affects all dwellinghouses in the area, but only so far as extensions or alterations, the erection of porches, and the painting of exterior walls. The council also lists two further Article 4 Directions covering parts of Olney, including properties either side of the High Street, so check your own address on the council's Article 4 page. It is not a front elevation only direction, the way some of the council's others are written.
The council also says work which does not materially affect the external appearance of a building is not development, and that anyone unsure can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate. Where that meets a boiler job is the outside of the house. National guidance on the Planning Portal says that in a designated area a flue should not be fitted on the principal or side elevation that fronts a highway, that the allowances apply to houses rather than flats, and that where a building is listed or in a designated area it is advisable to check with the local planning authority first. A vertical flue through a visible roof slope is the kind of change to raise with the council before the job is booked in.
None of this is planning or legal advice. Put your own property to the planning and conservation team at Milton Keynes City Council, then pass their answer on to whoever quotes.
The river
Where the boiler goes, and the condensate with it
Worth two minutes before the position is fixed, rather than an argument afterwards.
The River Great Ouse forms the southern and eastern boundaries of the parish, and the old town runs north away from it. Parts of Olney close to the river sit inside an Environment Agency flood warning area, the one covering the Great Ouse at Olney and Newton Blossomville. The GOV.UK flood service will tell you whether yours is one of them.
Raise it at the survey if the answer is yes, or if water has been in the house at some point. A boiler and its condensate pipe sitting in the lowest part of the building are the last things you want standing in water, and that is far easier to plan before a position is agreed.
The newer side
Estate homes, and which boiler type tends to suit which house
General guidance only. Mains pressure, radiator count and bathrooms decide it, and only a survey sees those.
Most of the newer housing is on the west and north sides of town. The historic towns assessment describes the second half of the twentieth century as the point when Olney grew substantially as a dormitory town for Milton Keynes, Bedford and Northampton. Those houses are usually simpler to work on, and the system inside is often the part that is overdue.
What tends to come out of a house from then is a regular boiler fed by loft tanks with a cylinder, or an early combi that has run out of road. Swapping like for like, in the spot the old one sat, is the short job. Changing type usually means reworking pipework, making good where the tanks and cylinder were, and sometimes upgrading the gas pipe from the meter.
- One bathroom, two or three bedrooms and mains pressure that holds up is the standard combi case. Combi boiler installation goes into when a conversion earns its money.
- Where there are two bathrooms and a morning queue for the shower, keeping the cylinder and fitting a system boiler tends to work better.
- In an older building, the one place a flue can safely terminate may choose the boiler type for you.
- If the boiler has not yet turned ten, a repair may still be the better call.Boiler replacement sets out how to judge it.
Price
Guide prices in Olney
The same ranges we publish everywhere across Milton Keynes. There is no separate Olney price list. These are typical guide prices, your quote may differ.
| Job | Guide price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Combi swap | £1,900 to £3,200 | Like for like, boiler stays where it is |
| System boiler | £2,300 to £3,800 | Keeps your hot water cylinder |
| Regular (heat-only) boiler | £2,200 to £3,600 | Keeps the loft tanks and cylinder |
| Conversion to combi | £3,000 to £4,800 | Tanks and cylinder removed, pipework reworked |
The number moves with the work rather than the postcode. Coring a flue through thick stone, upgrading the gas pipe, or stripping out a cylinder and its tanks all add hours to the day. Seenew boiler cost.
Olney questions
What people here ask
Plain answers to what people in Milton Keynes ask before they replace a boiler.
My house is in the Olney conservation area. Can I still have a new boiler?
Yes. Being in a conservation area governs how the place looks, and says nothing about which heating system you are allowed. Where it bites is on the outside of the building, and in Olney there is also an Article 4 Direction to think about. The practical answer is to ask Milton Keynes City Council planning about the flue position before the job is booked, then tell the installer what you were told so it is priced in.
What does the Olney Article 4 Direction actually restrict?
Milton Keynes City Council says it affects all dwellinghouses in the area, but only so far as extensions or alterations, the erection of porches, and the painting of exterior walls. It is not written as a front elevation only direction, which is how the council has drawn some of its other ones. The council also says that work which does not materially affect the external appearance of the building is not development, so the direction does not bite on it, and that you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate if you are unsure.
Does a vertical flue through the roof need permission here?
It needs checking rather than assuming. National guidance on the Planning Portal says that in a designated area a flue should not be fitted on the principal or side elevation that fronts a highway, that the allowances apply to houses and not to flats or maisonettes, and that if a building is listed or in a designated area it is worth checking with the local planning authority before a flue is fitted. On a listed building or a visible roof slope in the conservation area, ring the council first.
My walls are stone. Does that make a boiler swap more expensive?
It can add time rather than change the boiler. Homes of this age often have thick solid walls, so coring a flue takes longer and the terminal position is less flexible than on a modern cavity wall. There may also be chimney breasts, a cellar below, and a gas supply pipe never intended to feed an appliance this size. You can still have a new boiler through all of it. That is simply the reason a proper look round beats a figure quoted down the phone.
Part of Olney is in a flood warning area. Does that change the install?
It is worth raising at the survey. An Environment Agency flood warning area covers ground near the River Great Ouse here, and the GOV.UK flood service will tell you whether your address falls inside it. Mention it if the answer is yes, or if water has been in the house at some point, while the boiler position and the condensate run are still open questions.
Cold house? Start here
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Quote requests open soon.
This site is still being set up and is not taking requests yet, so there is nothing to fill in and none of your details are collected. Please check back shortly.