Heat pumps for landlords in Plymouth

How Plymouth’s rented homes differ

Plymouth has 25,921 privately rented households out of 114,557, which is 22.6% (2021 Census). That is below Portsmouth’s and Nottingham’s 28.6%. Owner-occupiers are 57.6% and social tenants 18.4%.

The property mix is more mixed than in many cities. Terraced homes are 32.8% of households (about 37,600), semi-detached 30.1% (about 34,500), purpose-built flats 16.2% (about 18,600) and detached 11.4%. The figure that stands out is converted or shared houses at 7.5%, about 8,600 households. That is more than double the 3.0% in Leicester or Nottingham, so a Plymouth portfolio is more likely than most to include a flat inside an older house.

These shares are for all households, not only rented ones, so use them as context and check your own property.

Gas is the default in Plymouth

Mains gas heats 80.9% of Plymouth homes, about 92,700 households. Electric-only heating is 7.4%, about 8,500. District heating is 0.4%, oil 0.1% and no central heating 1.9%.

That split shapes the decision:

• Most heat pumps here would replace gas. Gas is 7.97p per kWh and electricity 26.32p under the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, so a heat pump at a SCOP of about 3.0 runs at roughly the same cost as a 90% efficient gas boiler. It saves more only if the system is designed well and reaches a higher SCOP.
• The £9,000 off-gas rate will rarely apply. It needs oil or LPG heating with no mains gas connection. With 0.1% of homes on oil, plan on £7,500.
• The electric-only 7.4% is the strong case. Replacing panel or storage heaters with a heat pump cuts the electricity needed for heat to about a third at SCOP 3.0. See storage heaters vs heat pumps.

The cost side is the same as elsewhere: the Energy Saving Trust gives around £12,000 for a typical air source heat pump before grant, so about £4,500 after the £7,500 grant, before any radiator, cylinder or insulation work.

Converted flats: the hardest Plymouth case

A flat inside a converted house is usually the least suitable home for an air-to-water heat pump. There may be no outdoor space that belongs to the flat, the hot water cylinder has nowhere to go, and the freeholder or the other leaseholders may need to agree to a unit on the wall. On a block of flats the compressor is limited to 0.6 cubic metres under the England planning rules, and every unit must meet the 37.0 dB(A) noise limit.

For a converted flat, the realistic options are often better insulation and controls first, an air-to-air unit (funded at £2,500 where it replaces existing heating, with no hot water), or keeping the current system. Read heat pumps for flats and heat pump radiators and hot water in rentals.

Article 4 and HMO licensing

Plymouth’s Article 4 direction came into force on 14 September 2012. In the areas it covers, changing a house to a small HMO for 3 to 6 sharers needs planning permission. The council lists these neighbourhoods:

• Mutley and Greenbank, the City Centre, Stoke and Stonehouse
• Beacon Park and Pennycross, Peverell, Hartley and Mannamead, Higher Compton
• Efford, Lipson and Laira, Mount Gould, East End

Large HMOs need a licence from Plymouth City Council, and the council says it may issue a shorter licence period where the planning position is not settled. The council lists an initial application fee of £1,097, or £982 with an accreditation discount, and renewals at £1,040. Its licensing page does not describe a selective or additional licensing scheme. If you own an HMO, ask the council whether a heating change affects the licence conditions before you start.

Conservation areas on the waterfront

Plymouth City Council lists 15 conservation areas, including the Barbican, The Hoe, Devonport, Stoke, Mannamead and Stonehouse Peninsula. In a conservation area the permitted development rules for heat pumps carry extra limits, especially for a unit on a wall facing the road, and a listed building needs consent. Check before you agree a position.

Plymouth’s heat network plans

Plymouth is one of the 28 councils in the government’s heat network zoning pilot. The council appointed Vital Energi in May 2026 to develop heat networks in two areas: the south and west of the city, drawing heat from the South West Water Central Plant and the Devonport Energy from Waste plant, and Derriford in the north. Initial rollout is expected in 2028, with first buildings receiving heat in 2029.

The council says the early phases target businesses and commercial buildings, with a longer-term ambition to extend to social housing and then wider residential areas. A private landlord with a terrace in Peverell has no published date for a connection, so waiting is a gamble. A landlord with a large building in the city centre or Stonehouse could reasonably ask the council whether the zone will cover it.

The council declared a climate emergency on 18 March 2019 with a pledge to make Plymouth carbon neutral by 2030, and its current Net Zero Action Plan covers 2026 to 2029. The plan reports 793 properties retrofitted through the Warm Homes Grant. The Derriford zone would draw on the NHS medical waste incinerator and Marjon University’s existing ground source heating. These are council plans. Your legal duties come from the EPC rules and any licence conditions.

EPC C and the 2030 plan

Today the minimum is EPC E, with a £3,500 cost cap including VAT. The government plans EPC C by 1 October 2030 with a £10,000 cost cap per property, but the regulations have not been laid. See EPC C 2030 and your heating choice and the cost cap and exemptions. In a gas-heated Plymouth semi, insulation and controls are often the cheaper EPC gain, and does a heat pump improve an EPC rating explains why the heating system alone may disappoint.

Grants and funding in Plymouth

• Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 for air-to-water or ground source. Landlords are eligible, and an MCS installer applies for you. See the BUS page for landlords.
• Warm Homes: Local Grant: GOV.UK lists Plymouth City Council with £3,024,995. The council’s July 2025 announcement said over 200 properties would benefit and named wall, loft and underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels as the measures. It set the home criteria as an EPC of D, E, F or G and household income usually of £36,000 or less, with routes for some postcodes and benefits, and it told tenants that a landlord may need to pay for some of the improvements. Applications start on the GOV.UK form. National landlord terms apply, including a no-rent-rise declaration. Read the Warm Homes Local Grant page.
• Warm Homes Loan Scheme: a lender loan, not a grant.

When a heat pump is the wrong answer

• A converted flat with no outdoor space or no freeholder consent.
• A gas-heated home with thin insulation where tenants would pay more.
• A building that may sit inside a planned heat network zone; ask the council first.
• A property you plan to sell soon.

If you want to test your own property, use the landlord heat pump calculator or send an enquiry. Relevant independent firms contact you, with no charge to you and no obligation.