Hackney Council wants to extend its smoke-control rules to boats moored in the borough, which would mean anyone heating a moored boat with wood or coal must use an approved stove or burn approved fuel.
A consultation on the change opened on 30 October and closes at midday on Friday 22 January 2027. The council says it will make a final decision after considering the objections it receives.
The rules already apply to homes on land across Hackney. Under the proposal they would also cover moored boats, including canal boats that people live on. Stoves are not being banned, and the change does not affect the fuel used to move a boat, the council said.
The council says the aim is to cut air pollution from burning solid fuel for people who live by or visit the waterways. London Daily News reported the consultation on 1 November.
Why now
Hackney’s current Smoke Control Order took effect on 1 December 2025. The Environment Act 2021 gave councils the power to apply smoke controls to waterways for the first time, but doing so is optional, according to a report to the council’s cabinet, which voted on 6 October to start the legal process.
The report estimates there are about 300 places in Hackney where boats can moor. It cites a 2018 estimate by the Canal and River Trust of around 4,000 boats on the waterways of London and the South East.
Help with the cost
If the change goes ahead, boaters with a permanent mooring licence may be able to claim back 70% of the cost of an approved stove, or of another way to meet the rules, through a Defra grant scheme, the council says. Continuous cruisers, who have no permanent mooring, cannot apply for that grant, but the council says it may offer other support to those facing financial hardship.
How to respond
Comments and objections can be made through the online survey on Hackney’s consultation website, by email to landwaterair@hackney.gov.uk, or by post to the Land, Water, Air Team, Hackney Service Centre, 1 Hillman Street, London E8 1DY. Letters and emails must be headed “Feedback on the proposed order, entitled ‘The London Borough of Hackney Smoke Control (Variation) Order 2027′”. Paper copies of the legal notice and a map are at Hackney Town Hall and in the borough’s libraries.
The essentials
- What: proposed Hackney Smoke Control (Variation) Order 2027, extending smoke controls to moored boats
- What it would mean: solid fuel only in a Defra-approved stove, or Defra-approved fuel; stoves not banned; fuel for moving the boat not affected
- Deadline: midday, Friday 22 January 2027
- Grant: up to 70% of costs for permanent mooring licence holders, if the change is made
- Contact: landwaterair@hackney.gov.uk