Double Glazing in Aylesford

The old village sits on both banks of the Medway around its medieval bridge, which is Grade I listed and a scheduled monument, and the Aylesford conservation area has covered the historic village and The Friars since 1971. The council’s own statement for the area records that its windows are mostly casements, the majority of them timber, that sash windows are common on the late 18th and 19th century houses, and that comparatively few historic windows survive. On houses like these we would normally suggest flush sash or sliding sash windows, which keep the traditional proportions while adding modern insulation and security.

Across the river the housing is newer. A large suburban estate grew up beside the railway, many of its homes first owned by workers at the paper mills, and more private estates have since been built on and around the old mill sites. Standard uPVC casements, composite front doors and aluminium bi-folds suit most of these houses. Eccles grew around a Victorian brick and cement works, Ditton expanded with overspill housing from Maidstone, and Larkfield’s Tree and Bird estates were laid out in 1961.

Aylesford is in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling, and its borough council decides planning here. Inside the conservation area, permitted development rights are more limited than elsewhere, so ask the council before changing the style of the windows or doors on a street-facing wall. Anything on a listed building needs listed building consent before work starts.

Holtwood, Ditton, Larkfield Church and East Malling village have conservation areas of their own. Outside them, replacing windows and doors with ones of a similar appearance does not normally need planning permission, although a new bay window counts as an extension.

Check the rules with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council