Terraced streets
Four in ten homes in Gillingham are terraced, and in Gillingham South it's more than six in ten. Long terraced streets mean narrow plots, boilers in kitchens or back bedrooms, and flues that have to clear the neighbour's window and the alley wall. We plan the flue at the survey so the boiler goes where it will pass inspection.
Landlords and the new HMO rules
Since 22 January 2026, Medway's Article 4 direction has meant planning permission is needed to turn a family house into a small HMO in seven wards, including Gillingham North, Gillingham South and Watling. Whether you let a whole house or rooms, the gas safety rules are the same: every gas appliance and flue checked at least once every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and a copy of the record to each tenant within 28 days. We do that check and the record.
Edwardian Gillingham Park and Brompton
Gillingham Park opened in 1906 as the town's first public park, and Medway Council describes the houses round it as a good example of an Edwardian planned development. It's a conservation area with an Article 4 direction covering every house in four streets: Park Avenue, Malvern Road, Holmside, Stuart Road. It also covers parts of Oxford Road, Cleave Road, Nelson Road and Napier Road. Brompton, inside the Brompton Lines conservation area, has its own Article 4 on parts of Mill Road, Saunders Street, St Georges Road, Trinity Road and Marlborough Road.
In those streets, and in Gillingham Green, Railway Street and Lower Twydall, a flue on a wall or roof facing the road needs planning permission. We route flues to the back where we can.
Hard water
Southern Water's checker gives about 101 to 117 mg/l of calcium across the Gillingham postcodes we checked, roughly 253 to 293 mg/l as calcium carbonate depending on which works your water comes from. That's hard, and over the 200 mg/l point where a new combi should get a scale reducer.
Off the gas grid in Gillingham North
The government's 2024 estimate is that 30% of homes in Gillingham North aren't on mains gas, the highest share in Medway. They heat with electricity, oil or LPG. Whatever you have, we can tell you honestly whether a gas connection and boiler would be worth it.