Heritage conservation areas and the outdoor unit
Most home air conditioners in NSW are exempt development, so no council approval, if they meet the standards. In a heritage conservation area, or a draft one, one of those standards is that the unit goes at or behind the rear building line. If the house itself is a heritage item, the unit also has to be ground-mounted.
For a terrace, that usually means the back courtyard or the rear wall, not the front balcony or a street-facing roof. If you can't meet the standard, you'd need approval from Inner West Council, so ask before anyone drills.
The Inner West in facts
One council since 2016
Inner West Council formed on 12 May 2016 from Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils and covers 35 km2: Annandale, Ashfield, Balmain, Birchgrove, Dulwich Hill, Enmore, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Lewisham, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Petersham, Rozelle, Stanmore, Summer Hill, Sydenham, Tempe, and parts of Newtown, Camperdown and St Peters.
Terraces and cottages
Suburbs such as Newtown and Annandale have many two-storey terraces and one-storey terraced and timber cottages from the 1800s. After 1900, Federation houses took over, simplifying into the Californian bungalow found across most of the area.
Heritage protection
A number of heritage conservation zones have been created to keep that character, and Haberfield is a heritage-protected Federation-era suburb.
Attached, apartments, and renters
In 2021, the council area's homes were 42.4% flats or apartments, 28.8% separate houses and 27.1% semis, terraces or townhouses. 43.8% were rented, and homes averaged 2.5 bedrooms.
Shady streets
Streets with tree canopy, typical of the inner west, tend to have lower air temperatures. The ABCB climate map puts the inner Sydney council areas in zone 5, warm temperate.
Terrace, bungalow or unit: which system?
A terrace is narrow and roof space can be tight, so a split in the main living room and one upstairs, or a multi-split with one outdoor unit at the back, is the usual answer. A bungalow may have the roof space for ducted, which keeps period ceilings to vents only. An apartment along the railway line needs the owners corporation's approval as a minor renovation under NSW strata rules.
Renting? 43.8% of Inner West homes are. A fixed split means drilling a wall, so you need the lease to allow it or the landlord's written permission.
What we'd do
If it were our Inner West terrace
We'd find out first whether the street is in a heritage conservation area, then plan the outdoor unit for the back of the house. We'd ask for a multi-split quote with one outdoor unit behind the rear building line, and a two-split quote to compare. We'd want an installer who does heritage terraces regularly and knows the council's expectations. Licence-checked installers in the Inner West who do that work can see your job, and the one who takes it gets your details. If none of them has taken it after 48 hours, installers elsewhere in NSW may see it too.
