Window Shutters in Hackney for Owners, Leaseholders and Tenants

Before you pick window shutters in Hackney, work out whose window it is. At the 2021 Census, only 24.6% of Hackney households owned their home. Another 40.5% rented from a social landlord and 32.2% rented privately (Office for National Statistics). So most people who ask us about plantation shutters in Hackney need a yes from a landlord, a freeholder or the council before anything goes on the wall.

Plantation shutters are made to measure interior shutters with tilting slats, called louvres, that sit inside your window. Many people call them shutter blinds. Same thing. The table below shows who to ask first, and the sections after it cover the real Hackney buildings: converted terraces, Georgian squares, warehouse flats and estates.

Who can say yes to window shutters in Hackney?

The person who owns the window frame, or the lease that covers it, decides. That is the rule. Shutters are screwed into the frame or the wall around it, so even a small fixing counts as a change to the home. Here is how each group usually goes about it, from the quickest answer to the one that can take a little longer.

• Private tenants. Email your landlord or letting agent, say the shutters go inside the window, and ask for a reply in writing.
• Housing association and council tenants. Ask your landlord before you order. Some have their own rules on what can be fixed to a frame, and it is easier to ask first.
• Leaseholders. Read your lease for anything on windows, fixings or the look of the building from the road. If it is unclear, ask the freeholder or managing agent.
• Freehold owners. The choice is yours, apart from the building checks further down this page.

Can window shutters go on sash windows in a converted terrace?

Usually, yes. Shutters sit inside the sash window, and the panels fold back against the wall when you want the full view. Many Hackney terraces are Victorian or Edwardian houses split into flats, so the front windows run one above another, often with an old sash in each. Dalston’s conservation area, for example, is described by Hackney Council as mostly Victorian and Edwardian, with long rows of purpose built terraces.

Two things matter in a converted house:

• The shared front. Your shutters will be seen from the pavement next to the other flats’ windows. If your lease says anything about how the building looks from outside, tell the freeholder what you plan.
• The depth of the reveal. This is the inside edge of the window opening. A shallow one changes whether the panels sit inside the opening or on a frame around it. We measure it at the visit.

To keep the front looking even, many people choose white or off white. Tier on tier shutters let you close the lower panels and keep the top half open, so the window still reads as a window from the street. You can see how the two sets of panels work on that page.

Georgian terraces round Clapton Square and Clapton Terrace

If your home is in an old Georgian terrace, check whether it is listed before you do anything else. Clapton Square was laid out in 1816, and Hackney Council says it has terraces of listed buildings and is protected by Act of Parliament as a London Square. The Clapton Common conservation area has Clapton Terrace, a group of Georgian buildings. Sutton Place has listed buildings from the late eighteenth century.

Shutters go inside. They are not an outside change. Even so, the owner of a listed building can need listed building consent for inside work that affects its character. That is a question for the council, not for us, so ask Hackney Council first. If you want to show them what you have in mind, we can give you the measurements and fixing details.

Tall sash windows suit full height shutters well, because one set of panels covers the whole window. If you want to open the top and bottom separately, tier on tier is the other choice. We would help you decide once we have seen the window.

What do De Beauvoir and Hackney’s other Article 4 directions cover?

An Article 4 direction takes away some rights you would normally have to change your home without applying for planning permission. In De Beauvoir, Hackney Council says planning permission is now needed for changes to windows, front doors and railings, as well as painting the outside and altering gates, walls and fences. The direction was made on 7 July 2008 and approved on 27 November 2008. The council also says not every property in the conservation area is covered, and points you to its Article 4 property database.

Hackney has 35 conservation areas in all. Some facts help you place yourself:

• The council lists Article 4 directions for the Brownswood, Well Street, Beck Road and Shacklewell Green conservation areas. Each one has its own document saying which rights it removes.
• Clapton Square, Clapton Common, Clapton Pond, Dalston, Mare Street, Hackney Wick, Stoke Newington and De Beauvoir are all conservation areas.
• Article 4 directions are mainly about outside work. Interior shutters stay behind the glass, so they are not an outside change, but ask the council about your own address.

The council’s planning duty desk is the place to ask, on 020 8356 8062 or planning@hackney.gov.uk. We are not planning advisers. Please do not rely on our word for a legal question.

Plantation shutters in a Hackney Wick warehouse conversion

Old industrial buildings can have deep walls and unusual frames. Each window needs a proper look before we say which style works. Hackney Wick was a factory area. The council’s appraisal describes mostly low rise industrial buildings of one to three storeys, a four storey warehouse at Central Books, and brick walls with metal framed windows. It also mentions Crittall type windows and some original wooden frames.

In a converted building we check:

• What the frame is made of, because the screws need something solid to bite into
• Whether the opening is deep enough for the panels, or whether a face fit on the wall around it is better
• How tall the window is, since a big opening may need a mid rail, a cross bar that strengthens the panel
• Whether the window opens inwards, which needs clear space for the handle

Streets such as Wallis Road, Felstead Street and White Post Lane sit in the Hackney Wick conservation area. A conservation area mainly covers outside changes, so ask the council about your building before you order. For a very large pane, sliding shutters on a track are worth a look, because they glide across and never swing into the room.

Frames and reveals in blocks and estates built after the war

In a block of flats, the frame often belongs to the landlord, and the reveal can be shallow. Those two points decide whether shutters go inside the opening or on a frame around it. At the free visit we look at:

• The frame material, which decides the fixing
• Whether a radiator, window board or deep sill sits under the glass
• How far the handles stick out into the room
• Whether a balcony door needs its own set of panels

Flats in the same block often have the same windows. A landlord who has said yes once may say yes again. That helps if your neighbour already has shutters. You still need your own answer, so ask. If a window turns out not to suit shutters, we show you the options on our blinds in Hackney page instead.

Which window shutters in Hackney suit ground and first floor flats?

A ground floor window needs privacy first. A first floor window usually needs daylight first. The style follows from that, and the choices below are the ones we reach for most often when a flat faces a street.

• Ground floor facing the street. Café style shutters cover the lower half of the window, so people walking past cannot see in, while the top of the glass stays clear.
• First floor over the street. Full height or tier on tier lets you close the whole window at night and open the top in the morning.
• Back windows over a yard or garden. You will probably keep the louvres open most of the day, so a wider louvre shows more sky and fewer slats.
• Bedrooms. Closed shutters make a room much darker and more private, but a little light can show round the louvre edges.

We make louvres in 47mm, 63mm, 89mm and 114mm. Smaller ones often look right on a small flat window. Wider ones suit a big living room window.

Noise is a fair worry on a busy road. Shutters are solid, so they can take the edge off some sound, but your glass and the gaps around the frame matter more. Our guide on how much shutters cut road noise explains what to expect.