Tenant got a heat pump installed without consent

[Kimmers4334]

I am in two minds about this because it’s an upgrade to the property, but it’s a pretty significant and permanent thing that I’m now responsible for.

So as not to dripfeed, the tenant asked if they could have an appointment to see if the property would qualify for any upgrades. I agreed but was very clear that I’d want to see plans/recommendations before I agreed to having anything installed. I heard nothing further and then the letting agent sent me a certificate for work I know nothing about. There is a good chance I would’ve agreed to the heat pump, but that would depend on me having all the information. On principle I am pretty annoyed that the tenant, letting agent and installation company didn’t actually seek permission to go ahead at any point.
What would you do in this situation, complain to someone (letting agent? Installation company?), see it as breach of contract by the tenant, or just let it go as it does benefit the property?

What type of boiler has the heat pump replaced? Heat pumps work best with either underfloor heating or oversized radiators. It’s such a significant change and unfortunately there are likely some suppliers out there who will not pay any attention to who can legally sign the forms for a government grant. Your heating system has been fundamentally changed and may not work as well as it did/may cost more to run. We’re just putting one in along with UFH and huge amounts of solar but it’s in an area with no gas so the basic maths are different than comparing costs to a gas system.

I would be really unhappy with a tenant going ahead without permission - the problem is there are no real consequences for them, financially 5 weeks rent as a deposit is a tiny drop in the ocean if you were needing to reclaim costs from them as a result of their actions.

Nope, it's a breach of contract - making unauthorised changes to the property.

If you have a full management agreement with the the letting agency (and it sounds like you do) I would be blasting them to kingdom come. I would insist that they pay for an inspection of the work by someone independent (chosen by you) to satisfy you that it has been done to the appropriate standard, given that you were not given the opportunity to do so yourself. I'd also want to check, as others have said, for any damage caused by replacing radiators, removing boiler and installing water tank. I hope they have not done any of the dodgy insulation that often comes as part of these schemes. I'd then change letting agents to someone that does their job.

I agree with PPs about concerns over efficiency of these schemes. I own a house that a family member lives in which has no mains gas available. We researched heat pumps and concluded they would not work in this very old stone-built property. We are going for PV panels with a battery and making best use of tariffs (you can buy and use electricity when it is cheap, store in battery and then sell back to grid at a higher rate if you are well-organised).

What are they gonna do next - knock a wall down without permission?
Tennant is bang out of order it may be their home - but it is not their property!

Okay, and what damages can you claim? Given it’s an upgrade to the property.

It's an opportunity to get a much better tenant... Rental properties are massively in demand these days with tens, if not hundreds, of applications per property! Landlords can be VERY choosy. I wouldn't trust the current tenants (who the OP says are 'not good' in other respects) not to pull another stunt like this in the future.

You'd probably have the right to insist that it is removed and the property returned to the condition it was originally rented in, at the start of the tenancy.

It's not a given that it's an 'upgrade' - for all the reasons mentioned by others - it may be a dangerous or totally inappropriate set up, or shoddy workmanship.

I don't understand how they have got a government grant for a property they don't own? Someone may know more than me but it doesn't seem possible.

So how is that going to work if it goes wrong? You won't have a contract with the provider. When they leave the property are they going to take the heat pump with them? Are they expecting you to pay for it?

They need to get it removed and pay for it to be restored to original state.

A lot of these heat pumps don't work very well so you could be stuck with a property that doesn't get warm. And they can be noisy too.

They must have signed a few forms fraudulently to do this. Is this the kind of tenant you want?

its free for the HOME OWNER - not the tennant

Did they lie? or did they pay?

its free for the HOME OWNER - not the tennant

Did they lie? or did they pay?

My ( only and very limited) experience of heat pumps is that if they are badly installed in an inappropriate property so that the insulation isn't up to modern standards, then the heating is both very inefficient ( never gets warm enough in winter) AND is very very expensive to run ( middle floor flat costing double what it cost to heat our 4 bed house as an example).
Add in the fact that some areas may require permissions for pumps/outlets visible from the exterior of the property, and I'd be worried about being substantially out of pocket if a tenant did this to my property. I'd want to see guarantees, and have the work checked by a professional, anbd I'd be checking LA requirements as well.
Presumably the tenants haven't forged your signature to get the work done, and you're not on the hook for repayment of the grant once the house is sold?

I grew up in a house with hot air heating - fucking terrible system

They don't do it anymore

No, this is why landlords hate tenants.

It's only an upgrade if the house is properly set up for a heat pump.
Some houses would need all new windows etc in order to make them efficient.

Not if the OWNER doesnt want it done.

I can come round your house and paint your walls pink, and thats ok - its an upgrade

You probably need to see what they said to verify ownership.

What a mess.

If they take it when they leave,they will also have to pay to put the original heating system back to being working and functioning,as presumably this was removed/disconnected to install heat pump?

As a previous landlord with experience of the energy sector I wouldn’t let it go. Who is the installers contract with? What remedy do you have if the install has been done incorrectly if they have no legal contract with you? This could include damage to the structural integrity of the property, or the installation resulting in other liabilities. Also these technologies if not installed properly can cause bills to go up (significantly) rather than down (particularly if the property wasn’t insulated to the required standard for heat pump efficiency either before or during the installation). Will they come to you for that work if their heating bills treble this winter? Knowing the landlord obligations and tenant rights situation you could be very vulnerable to future costs. What’s the impact on the value of the property on the open market? There are many variables that need to be deeply understood before making the change to electric heating and you currently have no visibility of the assessment done.

Our house is nearly 100 years old and it would be very hard to make it sufficiently airtight to enable heatpumps to heat it adequately because it was designed to 'breathe' from a time when it was heated with a solid-fuel stove and open fires. The walls are too small to have larger radiators on them, which would be needed, so all the floors would have to be fitted with under-floor heating.

It would be a huge job. We have solar panels but probably won't go for heat pumps until we have to.

It doesn't seem possible because it isn't. Plus they are not free. Homeowners have to pay thousands towards one. There was a brief window during covid that they were dishing them out free if on certain benefits that certainly is not the case now.

I agee with all of this, and I'm usually in the "Landlords are money-grabbing bastards" camp.

My builder BIL thought about getting into the heat pump/solar panels game and went as far as going on a course that went into all the ins and outs. Then he started thinking about the many properties he'd worked on over the years, including those he'd built from scratch, and realised that very few of them were suitable for heat pumps and solar panels.

He told me that the size/number of radiators I'd need in my small 2-bed semi would mean I'd hardly have anywhere to put furniture, and my house faces the wrong way for solar panels (E/SE). The heat pumps are bloody massive, too, and it would have to go on the front wall where there's a deep bay window. None of the heat pumps I've seen would actually fit the space.

For an ECO scheme (100% government grant) both the building (has to be a D or below) and the current occupants (homeowner or private tenant with landlord consent that meet economic or benefit criteria) are assessed. Landlord income is not assessed.

Given that it will not be possible to rent out a property with a D in the near future, most landlords consent to an upgrade that costs them nothing, is based on tenant eligibility and the current tenant bears the disruption of planning and installation.

A heat pump is not installed on an ECO plan in isolation - there will also be work to improve insulation and fit solar panels as well as necessary work to replace piping and radiators. This will result in a recalculation of C or above meaning the property can continue to be rented out.

Of course to ensure future rental income with no inconvenience to tenants (or if they do not qualify or want the disruption) landlords can fund the works themselves. Or leave the rental market if they choose not to invest tens of thousands into required upgrades.

I have recently had my Victorian house remodelled with upgrades to modern standards of electric/plumbing/insulation
I considered heat pump of course but everyone from architect to friend who is s surveyor for several housing associations told me that the technology isn’t there yet to to do it.

This would concern me, and I'm usually on the side of tenants.

A lot of companies are seeing the government as a cash cow at the moment, and some of the work is not good quality. As the landlord, you should have been consulted more than this.

Not all houses are suited for for an air pump, but the companies that are making door-to-door aren't necessarily going to make an honest amassment on the suitability of your property for such works. They want the money.

When it does work, it can work well if you like a more stable ambient temperature, but for it to get to that point, people have to have other things installed first. Some houses need to have internal insulation panels installed on most walls, thus reducing an already small house further by about 6 inches on each wall, depending on how many you have that in. The floor could need work too. After all that's been done, they might still not be satisfied with the heat they get and could end up using an electric heater in winter anyway, thus making their bills as expensive, or possibly more expensive than before.