Newcastle upon Tyne · Tyne and Wear
Newcastle is home ground for Tyne & Ember. We fit wood-burning and multi-fuel stoves in houses right across the city, from the long terraces of Fenham, Benwell and Byker to the Edwardian villas of Gosforth and the stone-fronted houses of Jesmond. Every home here has its own quirks, and so does every chimney.
Because the whole city is a smoke control area, choosing a stove in Newcastle is not quite the same as choosing one in rural Northumberland. We start with a site assessment, look at your chimney or the route for a new flue, talk through which stoves are approved for use in the city, and then give you a written quote. If you are weighing up a log burner for a front room, a kitchen extension or a converted loft, this page explains what is worth knowing first.
Newcastle grew fast in the nineteenth century, and much of its housing still reflects that. Rows of Tyneside flats fill streets in South Heaton, Fenham, Arthur's Hill and Byker: pairs of front doors on one terrace, one leading to a ground-floor flat and the other to the flat above. Each flat usually had its own fireplaces, so chimney stacks are plentiful, but the flues are often shared with or run beside your neighbour's. That makes a proper inspection, and usually a flexible stainless steel liner, the sensible starting point.
Further out you find the city's later layers. Gosforth and parts of Jesmond have large Victorian and Edwardian houses with tall stacks and generous fireplaces that suit a bigger stove. Kenton, Fawdon, Westerhope and Walkergate have plenty of inter-war and post-war semis, where a chimney may have been capped or the breast removed altogether. Newer developments at Newcastle Great Park, Kingston Park and along the riverside often have no chimney at all.
None of this rules a stove out. Where there is no flue, an insulated twin-wall flue system can run up an outside wall or through the house. Every installation also needs a suitable hearth, the right clearances from combustible materials and, for many stoves, a permanent air vent. You can read more on our chimney liners and flues page.
Newcastle City Council states that the whole of the Newcastle upon Tyne district is a smoke control area. The council consolidated its older orders into a single Smoke Control Order, which took effect on 26 September 2024. In practice that means you cannot burn wood in an ordinary stove anywhere in the city. You have two legal options: fit a DEFRA-exempt appliance designed to burn wood cleanly, or use an approved smokeless (authorised) fuel.
Most people who want to burn logs choose an exempt stove, then buy dry wood. Since May 2021, wood sold in England in quantities under two cubic metres has had to be certified Ready to Burn, with a moisture content of 20% or less. The council can issue penalties for excess smoke, so it pays to get this right. See the council's smoke control areas page for the full rules.
Our services in Newcastle upon Tyne
Whether you live in a Tyneside flat in Heaton, a terraced house in Fenham or a detached home on the edge of Newcastle Great Park, the work tends to fall into a few clear stages. These are the services we offer across the city, each starting with a site assessment so that the quote reflects your actual chimney and room.
Planning and fitting a new wood-burning stove or log burner, from checking your chimney and hearth to commissioning the stove and talking you through using it safely. We plan and fit wood-burning stoves for homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, starting with a site assessment so the stove suits your room, your chimney and the local smoke control rules.
Fitting multi-fuel stoves that can burn wood or approved smokeless fuels, with the right liner, hearth and air supply, and clear advice on what you can legally burn locally. A multi-fuel stove can burn logs or approved smokeless fuels, which gives you flexibility through a North East winter. We fit them in homes across Newcastle, Tyne & Wear and beyond, and make sure you know what you can…
Swapping an old, oversized or inefficient stove for a modern Ecodesign model, with the chimney, liner, hearth and ventilation checked so the new stove works safely. If your current stove is old, smoky, cracked or simply the wrong size, we can replace it with a modern model. We serve homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, and check the whole installation…
Lining existing chimneys and fitting new flue systems for stoves, including twin-wall flues for homes without a chimney, all planned around a proper inspection first. A stove is only as safe as the flue it's connected to. We assess chimneys and plan lining or new flue systems for homes in Newcastle, across Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, usually as part of a stove installation.
Preparing hearths and fireplace openings for a stove, from opening up a blocked fireplace to laying a new hearth that meets the regulations and suits your room. The hearth and fireplace opening are where safety and looks meet. We prepare hearths and fireplace openings for stoves in homes across Newcastle, Tyne & Wear and the wider North East, as part of planning a stove…
Before you choose a stove
If you live within the Newcastle City Council boundary, yes. The council's 2024 order covers the whole district, from the Quayside out to Dinnington and Walbottle. That means planning for an exempt appliance from the start if you want to burn logs. Addresses just over the boundary, in North Tyneside, Gateshead or Northumberland, follow their own council's rules.
Many Tyneside flats are owned on long leases that contain covenants about alterations, shared structures and nuisance to the other flat. Because the chimney stack and roof are often shared, it is worth reading your lease and speaking to the owner of the other flat before committing. Your solicitor can confirm whether formal consent is needed.
Newcastle has twelve conservation areas, including Central, Gosforth, Jesmond Dene, South Jesmond, Brandling Village, Leazes, Summerhill and the Lower Ouseburn Valley. If you are in one and plan a new external flue or changes to a visible chimney, check with the council's planning team first, because rules on alterations that can be seen from the street are tighter.
In many Newcastle terraces and semis, chimney breasts were taken out downstairs to make rooms bigger, sometimes leaving the stack supported above. Knowing what remains matters, both for structural safety and for working out whether a lined chimney or a twin-wall flue is the realistic route. We check this during the site assessment.
A stove needs a non-combustible hearth of the right size and thickness, and many Newcastle homes have timber suspended floors. Old fireplace hearths are sometimes reusable, but often they are cracked or too small for a modern stove. Thinking about placement early helps avoid surprises once work starts.
The city's story begins with the Romans, who built a fort and bridge here called Pons Aelius, and stretches of Hadrian's Wall can still be traced along the West Road. The name itself comes from the 'new castle' raised in 1080 by Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, later rebuilt in stone.
For centuries Newcastle's fortunes rested on coal shipped from the Quayside, and the Victorian age turned it into a city of engineers. Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge of 1849 carried road and rail together across the Tyne, Lord Armstrong's works lined the river at Elswick, and Joseph Swan's incandescent lamps lit Mosley Street. Between 1835 and 1842 the builder Richard Grainger, with architect John Dobson, created the classical streets now known as Grainger Town.
Today the city ranges from that sandstone centre out to former pit villages and leafy suburbs, and a fireside in winter still feels very much at home here.
Map of Newcastle upon Tyne
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FAQs
Yes, but only in a stove that DEFRA has listed as exempt for use in smoke control areas, and only with the fuels the manufacturer specifies. Burning wood in a non-exempt stove anywhere in Newcastle can lead to a penalty. If you already have a stove, check its model against the exempt appliance list before lighting logs.
A solid-fuel stove is notifiable building work in England. It must either be carried out by an installer registered with a competent person scheme, who can self-certify the work, or be approved through Newcastle City Council's Building Control. Either way, you should receive a certificate showing the installation complies.
Yes. Building Regulations require a carbon monoxide alarm to be fitted in the same room when a new solid-fuel appliance is installed. It goes in as part of every installation, and we point out its location and the test button before we leave. Check it regularly through the burning season.
Usually, yes. Many homes in Newcastle Great Park and other newer estates have no chimney, so the stove connects to an insulated twin-wall flue that runs through the roof or up an outside wall. Check whether your estate has covenants or management rules about external flues before you go ahead.
A wood-burning stove is designed for logs and usually has a flat bed of ash. A multi-fuel stove has a raised grate and ash pan, so it can also burn authorised smokeless fuels. In Newcastle, a multi-fuel stove gives you a legal option for smokeless fuel even if the model is not exempt for wood.
Send us a few details and photos and we will arrange a site assessment and a clear written quote.
From our blog
Regulations & safety
The whole of Newcastle upon Tyne is a smoke control area. Here is what that means for a log burner: exempt appliances, authorised fuels, the penalties that now apply, and how to check elsewhere in the region.
Buying guides
Kilowatts, room sizes and rules of thumb, explained simply. Why an oversized stove causes problems, how insulation changes the picture, and when extra ventilation is needed under Building Regulations.
Stove advice
Not every chimney needs a liner, but many older ones do. Here is how installers decide, what the main liner options are, and how a chimney's condition is checked before and after a stove goes in.