Heat pumps for landlords in Nottingham

The numbers behind a Nottingham heat pump decision

Nottingham has 35,688 privately rented households out of 124,743, which is 28.6% (2021 Census). Owner-occupiers are 45.1% and social tenants 25.5%. The council also licenses much of it, which is covered below.

The housing mix matters more than the headline rental share. Semi-detached homes are 33.3% of households (about 41,500), terraced homes 27.4% (about 34,200), flats 18.4% (about 22,950), detached 15.6% and converted houses 3.0% (about 3,700). Terraces and semis are the bread and butter of a Nottingham portfolio, and they are usually the easiest heat pump candidates because there is outdoor space for a unit and a hot water cylinder can often go in an airing cupboard or loft.

These percentages cover all households, not only rented ones. The census does not split heating by tenure at this level, so treat the figures as the backdrop and check your own property.

What the heating split says

Mains gas heats 72.8% of Nottingham homes, about 90,800 households. Electric-only heating is 11.0%, about 13,700. District heating is 2.6%, about 3,200. Oil is 0.1% and 1.6% report no central heating.

Three things follow.

• The common swap is gas to heat pump. That is where the sums are tightest, because gas is 7.97p per kWh and electricity is 26.32p (Ofgem cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026).
• Oil and LPG is almost absent. The £9,000 off-gas Boiler Upgrade Scheme rate needs oil or LPG with no mains gas connection. At 0.1% of homes it will rarely apply in the city, so plan on £7,500.
• Electric-only is the strongest case. A landlord replacing storage heaters or panel heaters with an air-to-water system compares 26.32p per kWh at 100% efficiency against the same price divided by the heat pump’s SCOP.

Worked example (modelled, not a real project)

Inputs: a three-bedroom semi using 12,000kWh of heat a year (the illustrative demand in this site’s fact sheet), a gas boiler at 90% efficiency, a heat pump at SCOP 3.0 or 3.5, and the October 2026 price cap unit rates. Standing charges are left out because a tenant pays them whatever the system.

Heating	Fuel needed	Fuel cost a year
Gas boiler, 90%	13,333kWh gas	about £1,063
Heat pump, SCOP 3.0	4,000kWh electricity	about £1,053
Heat pump, SCOP 3.5	3,429kWh electricity	about £902

At SCOP 3.0 the running cost is level with gas. At 3.5 it saves about £160 a year. The saving is for the tenant who pays the bills, not for you. What you gain is a better EPC option and a home that is easier to let if rules tighten.

On cost, the Energy Saving Trust gives around £12,000 for a typical air source heat pump before grant. Take off the £7,500 grant and the figure is £4,500 before any radiator, cylinder or insulation work. Your own quotes will differ.

Check licensing before you check heating

Nottingham City Council runs selective licensing for privately rented houses. The designation came into force on 1 December 2023 and ceases on 30 November 2028. It applies to the area shown on the council’s designation map. The council estimates the scheme covers over 30,000 privately rented homes.

Why this belongs in a heating guide: a licensed property carries conditions, so know your status before planning works. Check the postcode with the council first. Ask the council whether a heating change affects the licence conditions.

Separately, the council’s Article 4 direction means turning a family dwelling into a small HMO for 3 to 6 unrelated people needs planning permission. If you are thinking about converting and re-heating at the same time, the planning question comes first.

EPC C by 2030 in a city of terraces

Today the minimum is EPC E, with a £3,500 cost cap including VAT. The government has said it plans EPC C by 1 October 2030, with a cost cap of £10,000 per property, but the regulations have not been laid. See EPC C 2030 and your heating choice and the cost cap and exemptions.

For a Nottingham terrace the cheapest EPC gains are often draught-proofing, loft insulation and a hot water cylinder thermostat, not the heating system. A heat pump on a poorly insulated solid-wall terrace can be an expensive system that still disappoints on the EPC. Insulation first is often the right answer. Use does a heat pump improve an EPC rating to see how the assessment treats it.

Grants for Nottingham landlords

• Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump. See the BUS page for landlords.
• Warm Homes: Local Grant: Nottingham City Council says it has secured Warm Homes: Local Grant funding for privately owned homes in the city. The home must have an EPC of D to G and an eligible postcode, and the household an income below £36,000 or certain benefits. A privately rented home rated F or G needs an exemption letter. Nottingham Energy Partnership processes applications, and the council says the scheme is oversubscribed, with a waiting list of up to a year. For the national landlord terms, where the first property is fully funded, the landlord pays 50% from the second and declares no rent rise, read the Warm Homes Local Grant page and ask the council directly.
• Warm Homes Loan Scheme: a lender loan, not a grant.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays one grant per property and excludes homes already given government heat pump funding, so decide which route fits before applying.

Heat networks and the carbon neutral plan

Nottingham has one of the best-known district heating networks in the country. The council’s Commercial, Infrastructure and Energy Directorate describes the Enviroenergy network as serving 5,000 properties and over 100 businesses, with heat from a waste incineration facility. If your rental is connected, a heat pump is unlikely to be the logical step; ask the operator what the connection terms and charges are.

The council’s climate programme is called the Carbon Neutral 2028 Action Plan. Do not read it as a landlord obligation. It is a council plan, and landlord duties come from the EPC rules and licence conditions above.

When a heat pump is the wrong answer

• The home is a poorly insulated solid-wall terrace with no loft insulation. Fabric first.
• It is a small flat with no suitable outdoor space or without freeholder consent.
• It is already on the district heating network.
• You plan to sell soon and tenants would face higher bills at 26.32p per kWh electricity.

If a heat pump does suit the home, send an enquiry and relevant independent firms contact you, with no charge to you and no obligation. Or run the numbers first with the landlord heat pump calculator.