Odour Assessment Consultants London

Odour Specialists Working Across Greater London

London is the most demanding planning environment for odour in the UK. The combination of 32 boroughs (plus the City), unusually high residential densities, and a constant churn of Use Class E conversions to restaurants, takeaways and dark kitchens means that odour assessments end up in front of every borough's Environmental Health team multiple times each week. Each team has its own expectations on layout, baseline information and mitigation — and a report that satisfies Camden may need adjustment to satisfy Croydon.

We prepare odour assessments for the full range of London projects: high-street restaurant fit-outs, basement kitchens in mixed-use blocks, ground-floor hospitality below new-build residential, food manufacturing in light-industrial pockets, and waste-transfer and biowaste facilities on the city's industrial fringes. Our approach is the same throughout — apply the right methodology (EMAQ+ for kitchen extract, IAQM 2018 for industrial sources), set out the assumptions clearly, model the discharge against the actual receptors, and recommend the minimum technically defensible mitigation. That keeps cost down on site, and keeps the application moving through validation.

Reports are signed off by a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and full member of the Institute of Air Quality Management (MIAQM) and the Institution of Environmental Sciences (MIEnvSc). We work alongside planning consultants, architects, M&E engineers and developers across London — from a single fit-out to a 200-unit mixed-use scheme.

What We Provide

Services We Provide in London

Four core odour services covering every type of London planning application — from a single takeaway unit to a major industrial site.

Odour Impact Assessment

Full IAQM-aligned odour impact assessments for industrial, agricultural and waste sources — identifying receptors, characterising the source, assessing the risk of odour annoyance, and setting out mitigation. Suitable for planning applications, permit variations and discharge of conditions across all London boroughs.

EMAQ+ Kitchen Extract Assessment

Industry-standard EMAQ+ assessments for restaurants, cafés, takeaways, dark kitchens and food manufacturing across London. Calculates the odour effect index for your cooking type, covers, hours and receptor distances, and specifies the carbon, UV-C or ozone treatment your extract system needs.

Industrial Odour Surveys

On-site sniff testing, source characterisation and complaint investigation for industrial operators in London — waste transfer stations, MBT facilities, anaerobic digestion plants, food manufacturers and rendering. We translate findings into clear evidence for the regulator, the planning authority or a defence against statutory nuisance.

Odour Dispersion Modelling

Quantitative dispersion modelling with ADMS for complex London sites where a screening assessment is not enough — large kitchens, mixed-use towers, industrial sources near residential, and any site where a council officer has specifically asked for modelled concentrations at the receptor.

Where We Help

Common Odour Assessment Scenarios in London

The London projects that need an odour assessment fall into a handful of recurring patterns. Whatever yours looks like, we have almost certainly done one like it for the same borough.

Restaurant and takeaway fit-outs on Use Class E units. The single most common London project — a retail or office unit being converted to a hot-food use, with the borough requesting an EMAQ+ assessment and a duct routing strategy as a condition of planning.
Basement and ground-floor kitchens in mixed-use buildings. Long duct runs to roof level, complex shared risers, and residential receptors directly above. We work with your M&E consultant to specify a route and a treatment train that satisfies the borough first time.
Dark kitchens and cloud-kitchen hubs. Multi-tenant kitchen operations in industrial estates and outer-London sites, with combined extract from several operators. These need careful EMAQ+ work to account for the cumulative effect.
Mixed-use schemes with hospitality at ground floor. New-build or substantial refurbishment projects where the planning authority wants comfort that future Class E tenants will not cause an odour nuisance to the residential above. We prepare a framework assessment and recommend a planning condition wording.
Waste transfer, MRF and AD facilities. Industrial-scale odour sources on London's outer edges — typically requiring IAQM-aligned assessment plus ADMS dispersion modelling against residential receptors.
Discharge of odour-related planning conditions. If the application is already approved with an odour condition attached, we prepare the supporting assessment and statement to discharge the condition.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Which London boroughs do you cover for odour assessments?

We cover all 32 London boroughs plus the City of London, from inner-London authorities such as Camden, Westminster, Islington, Hackney, Southwark, Lambeth and Tower Hamlets to outer-London boroughs including Croydon, Bromley, Ealing, Hounslow, Barnet, Enfield, Havering and Hillingdon. We are used to the differing approaches of each borough's Environmental Health team and write our reports so they read well to the specific officer reviewing your application.

Do London planning authorities require odour assessments for restaurants and food premises?

Almost without exception. London boroughs have some of the densest urban contexts in the UK, with residential receptors typically within a few metres of any new commercial kitchen. Whether you are converting a Use Class E unit on a high street, fitting out a basement kitchen for a dark-kitchen operator, or extending an existing restaurant, the borough will expect an EMAQ+ kitchen odour assessment as part of the planning submission. Many boroughs include a standing odour condition on Class E to sui generis conversions.

What methodology do you use for London odour assessments?

For kitchen extract assessments we use the EMAQ+ (Emissions, Mitigation, Assessment and Quantification) framework, which is the methodology recognised by every London borough Environmental Health team. For industrial and process odour sources we apply the IAQM guidance on odour impact assessment (2018), supported where appropriate by ADMS dispersion modelling. Both approaches give the council the information they need in the format they expect.

Do you carry out odour assessments for mixed-use developments in London?

Yes. Mixed-use schemes — typically retail or hospitality at ground floor with residential above — are a London staple, and odour from the commercial units is one of the most common reasons for refusal or onerous conditions. We assess the proposed extract route, discharge point and odour control system against the residential receptors within the same building and on neighbouring sites, and recommend the minimum technically defensible mitigation.

How quickly can you turn around a London odour assessment?

Most London odour assessments are delivered within 5 to 10 working days of receiving the project information. We offer expedited turnaround for time-critical submissions and discharge-of-condition applications — let us know your planning deadline when you get in touch and we will work to it.

Where We Work

Areas We Cover in London

We deliver odour assessments to every London borough. The list below is for reference — if your project is anywhere in Greater London or the City, we cover it.

Barking & Dagenham
Barnet
Bexley
Brent
Bromley
Camden
City of London
Croydon
Ealing
Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith & Fulham
Haringey
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Islington
Kensington & Chelsea
Kingston upon Thames
Lambeth
Lewisham
Merton
Newham
Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Sutton
Tower Hamlets
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Westminster