In brief
Sometimes, but it is much harder than in a house. You need the freeholder’s written consent under your lease, a safe flue route that does not affect other flats, Building Regulations sign-off and often planning permission. Ground and top-floor flats with an existing chimney have the best chance.
On this page
Plenty of people living in flats would love a wood burning stove, and plenty of converted Victorian houses have fireplaces in every room. But a flat is part of a shared building, and that adds several hurdles a house does not have. None is impossible; together they mean many flats cannot have one.
1. Your lease
Start here, because it decides everything else. Most leases say you cannot alter the structure, the outside of the building or any shared parts without the freeholder’s written consent. A chimney stack, the roof and outside walls are almost always shared parts. Many leases also ban anything that could be a nuisance or a fire risk to other flats.
Read your lease, then write to the freeholder or managing agent with your plans. Expect them to ask for the installer’s details, the flue route and proof of sign-off, and possibly to charge a fee for a licence to alter. Some will simply say no.
If you own a share of the freehold, the other owners usually need to agree too.
2. The flue
A stove needs a flue that takes smoke safely above the roof. In a flat there are three possibilities.
An existing chimney. Many converted houses have a flue serving your room, often in a stack shared with flues serving other flats. The flue must be swept, smoke tested and almost always lined so your smoke cannot leak into a neighbour’s flue or room. Fitting a liner means work on the roof and the chimney pot, which belongs to the building, so you need consent for that work as well.
A new twin-wall flue. A ground-floor flat might run a flue out through the wall and up the outside of the building. It must clear windows and the roof by the distances set in Approved Document J, which on a block of flats means a long, prominent flue past other people’s windows. In practice this is rarely allowed. See twin-wall flue installation for the height rules.
Top-floor flats with no chimney can sometimes run a short flue through their own ceiling and the roof, if the roof is part of their demise or the freeholder agrees.
3. Planning permission
Flats do not have permitted development rights. Any new external flue on a building containing flats needs planning permission. In a conservation area or on a listed building, expect closer scrutiny and listed building consent for any work to a listed building. Using an existing chimney with only a new pot or cowl may not need permission, but ask your council.
4. Building Regulations
The rules are the same as for a house. Approved Document J covers the flue, the hearth, clearances to combustible materials, the air supply and a carbon monoxide alarm in the room. Many flats in older buildings have timber floors, so the hearth must be right. A HETAS-registered installer can certify the work, or you give the council a building notice.
Fire separation between flats matters too. A flue passing through another flat or a shared loft must not weaken the fire protection between homes.
5. Smoke control areas
Most flats are in towns and cities, and most of those are in smoke control areas. You can only burn wood there on a Defra-exempt stove, and a smoking chimney can bring a penalty of up to £300 in England. Close neighbours are also more likely to notice smoke or smell.
6. Insurance and the building’s insurance
Tell your contents insurer, and check with the freeholder that the building insurer is aware. Keep the installation certificate and sweep certificates.
If a stove is not possible
- A bioethanol stove needs no flue, but it adds moisture to the room and gives off combustion gases, so ventilation matters.
- An electric stove with a flame effect gives the look with no flue at all.
- A gas stove needs a flue too, but a balanced flue through an outside wall can sometimes be easier to get consent for.
The likely cost
If it can be done, the installation itself costs about the same as in a house, with extra for consents, scaffold on a tall building and any fees from the freeholder. Our log burner installation cost guide gives typical figures, and the log burner fitting guide explains the main routes.
When you are ready, get a quote for having a stove fitted.