Planning comes first in Angmering
Few villages have as many permission questions to settle before insulating a wall. According to the parish council, about two-thirds of Angmering parish, mostly north of the A27, lies within the South Downs National Park, where planning is handled by the National Park Authority rather than Arun District Council. The historic core around The Square, Arundel Road and the High Street has been a conservation area since 1975, and Arun's 2026 appraisal proposes extending it to take in part of Weavers Hill. Many of the older houses inside it are listed. Wherever you are, Building Regulations may apply to insulating the outside walls, and in a conservation area, the National Park or on a listed building, planning consent may be needed too. Check with the right authority before booking.
Homes that suit it
Outside those areas, external insulation is a strong option for houses that lose heat through their walls and have no cavity to fill, or where the owners do not want to lose room space to insulation inside. The post-war estates described in the Angmering Neighbourhood Plan, such as North and South Angmering from the 1960s and 1970s, include plenty of houses and bungalows whose render or pebble dash is due for renewal anyway; insulating underneath the new finish makes the most of that scaffold.
There is one local point to think about. The Neighbourhood Plan describes the 1930s council-built terraces and bungalows around Palmer Road and Arundel Road as identical in style. On a uniform row like that, insulating one house makes it stand out, with deeper window reveals and a different finish, so it is worth talking to the neighbours, and to the council if in doubt.
Old walls need a different answer
In the conservation area, the appraisal describes walls of coursed, whole and knapped flint with red brick dressings, much of it left exposed as part of the street scene. Boarding and rendering over a flint front would change its character and is unlikely to be allowed. For a less sensitive solid wall that is already rendered, cork render is the gentler option. It goes on thicker than ordinary render, insulates a little, and because cork breathes, moisture inside an old wall can still find its way out. Where the outside has to stay as it is, an insulated lining inside is the usual route, covered on our page about dry lining and insulation in Angmering.
What the job involves
The work starts with taking off anything fixed to the walls, such as downpipes, lights and aerials, and checking for loose material and damp. A level base rail goes on just above the damp proof course to carry the first course of boards. The boards, EPS among other insulation types, are glued on and then anchored with mechanical fixings, their joints staggered like brickwork. Over them goes a basecoat with reinforcing mesh pressed in, with angle beads at every corner and opening. The final layer is render, frequently a coloured silicone (silicone rendering in Angmering), and sills are lengthened to clear the new, thicker wall. Because Angmering is prone to groundwater and surface water, any damp already in the walls is traced and cured before anything is covered up. More is on our external wall insulation and cork render service page, and the Angmering page lists our other work here. To talk it through at no charge, ring 07824 165672.
