Plumbing repairs and installations in Harlow

How was Harlow built?

Harlow was designated a new town on 25 March 1947, partly to ease overcrowding in London after the war. Sir Frederick Gibberd's master plan divided it into neighbourhoods, each with its own shops, schools and open space, and separated them with green wedges of open land. Mark Hall was the first neighbourhood, with a mix of houses, flats and maisonettes.

Much of the town's housing went up in the 1950s and 1960s, often to standard designs repeated across whole streets. Old Harlow keeps an older village core, and Church Langley, begun in 1992, and Newhall have added newer homes on the edges. Harlow is its own district, separate from Epping Forest, and Essex County Council is the county council for both.

What plumbing comes up in the new town houses?

Homes from the first decades of the town are now around 60 or 70 years old, and many have had several kitchens and bathrooms since. Typical enquiries include:

• pinholes in original copper pipework, often under floors or boxed in
• loft tanks and cylinders that have been replaced piecemeal, or not at all
• bathrooms too small for a standard bath and shower
• stiff or seized stopcocks that have not been turned in decades

Because neighbouring houses were often built alike, a neighbour who has had the same fault may be able to tell you where the pipes run.

What about flats and maisonettes?

Harlow has a large number of maisonettes and low-rise blocks. In these, the waste stack and sometimes the cold supply serve several homes, and a leak from above is common.

• Owners should check the lease for who repairs shared pipes
• Tenants of the council or a housing association should start with the landlord's repairs line
• Find your own stopcock, which in some blocks is outside the flat

Are the newer estates any different?

Homes built since the 1990s mostly have combination boilers or unvented cylinders, so pressure problems tend to trace back to the mains supply rather than a loft tank. If you have an unvented cylinder, keep its installation paperwork and tell the plumber.

Whose is a blocked drain?

On estates where homes share drain runs, many of those drains passed to the sewerage company in 2011. A blockage affecting several houses is usually one for your water company.

Does Harlow have conservation areas?

Yes. Harlow Council, which is the planning authority for the town rather than Epping Forest District Council, lists ten. Old Harlow takes in Market Street, Fore Street, the High Street and the hamlet of Mulberry Green. Churchgate Street had its boundary revised in February 2025, and the council agreed to bring in an Article 4 direction there, which removes some changes owners could otherwise make without planning permission. Perhaps less expected is Mark Hall North, part of the very first new town neighbourhood, which has been a conservation area since 1987.

Work inside a home is rarely affected. A new soil pipe or waste outlet on a wall facing the street is another matter, so in any of these areas ask Harlow Council before anything changes on the outside of the house.

How does an enquiry from Harlow work?

Tell us your postcode and what is wrong. If a local plumber covers CM17, CM18, CM19 or CM20 and you agree, we send your enquiry to that plumber only. If not, we tell you and pass nothing on.