Heat pumps for landlords in Coventry

Start with the heating the home already has

For most Coventry rentals the question is not “heat pump or nothing”. It is “heat pump or the gas boiler already there”. The 2021 Census shows 79.5% of Coventry’s 134,140 households use mains gas, 8.5% use electric only heating, 0.1% use oil and 1.9% have no central heating. District heating serves 0.4%.

Applied to the 33,195 privately rented households (24.7% of the city), and assuming rentals mirror the city mix, which is an assumption and not a census figure:

Heating	Share	Approx. rented homes
Mains gas	79.5%	26,390
Electric only	8.5%	2,820
No central heating	1.9%	630

The electric only and no heating groups are where a heat pump is easiest to justify. The gas group is where a landlord should be most careful.

What the housing mix means for a heat pump

Coventry is a city of terraces and semis. 39.9% of homes are terraced, 30.1% semi-detached, 11.6% detached and 15.7% flats (1.7% are converted buildings).

• Terraces and semis (70%) usually have space for one outdoor unit. Under the planning rules in England a house that is not detached is allowed one unit, with a noise limit of 37.0 dB(A) at the neighbour’s window. In tight terraced rows the noise limit is the practical test, not the paperwork.
• Flats (15.7%) often have no outdoor space for a unit and shared roofs or walls. See heat pumps for flats and air-to-air heat pumps for rentals.
• Detached homes (11.6%) are allowed two units and have the most scope.

Worked example (modelled, not a real project)

This uses the model on this site: a house needing 12,000kWh of heat a year. A small Coventry terrace may need less, so treat it as an upper case. Prices are the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026: electricity 26.32p/kWh and gas 7.97p/kWh, before standing charges.

Heating	Calculation	Annual energy cost
Gas boiler at 90%	12,000 / 0.9 = 13,333kWh x 7.97p	£1,063
Heat pump, SCOP 3.0	12,000 / 3.0 = 4,000kWh x 26.32p	£1,053
Heat pump, SCOP 3.5	12,000 / 3.5 = 3,429kWh x 26.32p	£902
Electric heaters	12,000kWh x 26.32p	£3,158

Against gas, a heat pump saves between about £10 and £161 a year, which is close to nothing. Against electric heaters it saves about £2,105 a year at SCOP 3.0. On an installed cost of around £12,000 less the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, the net cost is about £4,500. That is a payback of roughly two years for a property already on electric heaters, and many decades for a gas swap on energy cost alone. Tenants pay the bills, so the saving is theirs, not yours; see heat pump running costs for tenants.

Grants that apply in Coventry

Coventry City Council’s Warm Homes: Local Grant covers three areas: Hillfields, Upper Stoke and Lower Stoke. The council page says people who own their home or rent from a private landlord could qualify, and lists wall insulation, solar panels and heat pumps as example upgrades.

The landlord terms here are not the national ones. DESNZ policy guidance says the West Midlands Combined Authority received its Warm Homes funding through a devolved settlement, so Coventry City Council is not part of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, where a landlord’s first property is fully funded. Coventry’s own landlord page says the project covers 70% of the cost and the landlord pays 30%, for homes rated EPC D or E with tenants who earn under £36,000 a year or receive benefits, in an area ranked 1 to 2 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The combined authority’s landlord page adds that the 70% rate applies to up to 4 properties and 50% from the fifth. Ask the scheme which terms apply to your postcode before you commit.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is separate and is open to landlords: £7,500 towards an air-to-water or ground source heat pump. See boiler upgrade scheme for landlords and warm homes local grant for landlords.

Licensing and planning for Coventry rentals

Coventry’s Additional Licensing Scheme for HMOs started on 4 May 2025 and ends on 3 May 2030. It applies to HMOs with 3 or 4 occupiers regardless of storeys, and to certain converted-building HMOs. A heat pump does not change this, but works in a licensed HMO should be planned around the licence conditions.

Coventry also has an Article 4 direction for HMOs. Since 30 September 2023, changing a single-household home to an HMO in 11 wards (Cheylesmore, Earlsdon, Foleshill, Lower Stoke, Radford, St Michael’s, Sherbourne, Wainbody, Whoberley, Westwood and Upper Stoke) needs planning permission. That concerns HMO use, not heat pumps, but it matters if your plan is to subdivide or add rooms.

When a heat pump is the wrong answer

Do not start with a heat pump if the house has a working gas boiler, uninsulated lofts or walls and an EPC of D or worse. Insulation lowers the heat the home needs, which also makes any later heat pump smaller and cheaper. Older terraced stock may need larger radiators to run a heat pump well, and that adds cost.

Where this fits with EPC C by 2030

Today the legal minimum for rentals in England is EPC E. The government plans EPC C by 1 October 2030 with a cost cap of £10,000 a property, but the regulations are not yet made. A lower cap would apply only to a property valued below £100,000. Coventry City Council’s Climate Change Strategy says about 100,000 privately owned homes in the city sit below EPC C, so many landlords face the same decision. Use the EPC deadline checker and EPC C 2030 and your heating choice to plan.

A sensible order for Coventry landlords

1. Read the EPC and its recommendations.
2. Insulate lofts and walls where the report says so.
3. If the home is on electric heaters or has no central heating, price a heat pump with the grant.
4. If it has a good gas boiler, keep it and revisit when it fails.
5. Use an MCS registered installer, and check the register yourself at check an installer.

When you are ready, use the landlord calculator or send an enquiry through the quote page. Relevant independent firms contact you; there is no charge and no obligation.