Hi All,
I am looking to install a heat pump in my property in Sheffield with Octopus. There was a survey and I now have an offer I would like to take. I communicated that to my tenant, and she replied saying that she ‘doesn’t think I can unilaterally decide to have a non-essential construction work completed in the house while they are living there. She argued this on the basis of quiet enjoyment’. I understand the need to talk through, and have a few things in mind to offer them for the potential increase of bills. However, before doing so I wanted to know if she has any legal basis to prevent it. Does anyone know?
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You will have a clause in AST that allows access for works.
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Thank you. Yes, I know. But didn’t come across the idea of ‘non-essential construction work’… which anyway, I would be surprised if installing a heat pump will fall under it. Boiler works, but old.
If you are faced with an unwilling tenant who is refusing to play ball on something as reasonable as this then in my experience best route is s.21 at first available opportunity.
Minds rarely change, and enforcement is time, money and hassle. You want a willing and reasonable participant, not resistance.
Could you offer an incentive?
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I hear you. I had a nightmare tenant who refused to leave, and I was lucky because he was offered something he liked. To be fair, they are much better and take good care of the house. Yes, I have incentives, and will offer after I hear her objections. I just don’t want to enter a match that I am going to lose. You say S21, but landlord have little power, as I’ve found out…
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If I was the tenant I would object vigorously because (1) right to quiet enjoyment, (2) you are changing the most important internal system of the house part way through the contract with no idea of whether or not it will perform as well as the original system, (3) the tenant will end up being responsible for any increase in bills/decrease in comfort as a result. If I was them i would argue there is no need for you to do this work whatsoever and you could just wait until after they have moved out. I would certainly make sure to cause you as much trouble as I possibly could if you don’t listen to my concerns. Why can’t you just wait?
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Is it non essential works?
In the association newsletter just published
Ed Milliband has “ demanded that landlords raise the standard of their accommodation to a proper energy performance certificate standard C by 2030”
If it’s going to bring your property into legal requirements is it not a necessity?
I have changed doors, windows, boilers and added insulation to lofts (and at one time I did actually insulate a floor, albeit a ground floor room in an HMO sealed off from rest of house) with the tenants in situ.
My first EPC was 2008.
My renewal was in 2018. I did all the necessary adjustments to keep me at C but as the criteria changed some of our houses dropped to D so in the last few years I have done works to get back to C.
The tenants were grateful that we were upgrading the house as it was them that benefited.
I have one tenant who declined anything as he used it to keep his rent down but that hasn’t worked since the cost of living crisis .
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Thanks, Graham and A_A,
Yes, I have just insulated the whole house, loft, changed radiators etc to bring the house to C. It is in great condition. They entered after that and enjoy the benefit. That’s ok.
My concern is also for the planet in this case, and I am looking at a heat pump in my house. I think it is the responsible thing to do, where we can make a (small) difference. I am willing to put the extra cost in, including talk to them about taking the hit of the rise in bills, IF it happens, AND they do what is needed to keep the costs down (e.g. warm water at night).
But, I take your point Graham, and it does give me things to think about (e.g. the uncertainty). I can’t wait because currently the government has a £7500 grant… you would agree that this is not little… What I still need to know is if they have any legal ground to object.
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If your house is C rated then my argument falls by the wayside and yes they can object.
I had a tenant refuse a new kitchen and bathroom ( we were getting 50% grants from the local authority). I could not impose it upon him.
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In my knowledge of EPC, taking out a ‘Gas’ heated boiler, and replacing with an ‘electrically’ powered Heat Pump, will had an adverse affect on the EPC rating. EPC does not differentiate between electric storage heaters and electric heat pump.
Unless anyone knows this has changed, its my view that EPC is unfit for purpose.
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The tenant can legally refuse to allow access for this non-essential work. If you cant persuade her, you will have to wait until she is no longer living there.
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Thank you everyone,
Quite a surprise for me and lots to think about - great to have a community to share knowledge.
Tali
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I agree, the cost of running a heat pump is significantly more than gas, it is not greener when gas and oil is used to fuel power stations. There is a Govt grant of £7500 but this is far outweighed by the installation cost. Its a bit of a scam as only “approved” installers can get it so they charge £15k minimum when the pump only costs £4K.
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You are being most unreasonable to your tenant.
If you have a good tenant dont upset them with this vanity project and decide if you want to be a landlord or an eco warrior.
To replace a boiler costs me a couple of grand and its done in a day and lots of trained people out there who can fix them
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This is my reply, my home Boiler recently broke down.
With a Grant of 7 1/2 thousand pounds I could’ve had a wonderful heat pump system which requires the heat pumps to be replaced every five years ish because they’re unreliable, VV a gas boiler with a 15 year warranty at £3k. With the heat pump, I could’ve paid more money to heat the house and more importantly these things really struggle when temperatures are very cold and you have to plug in supplementary fires to heat your house.
I once met a managing director of a heat pump company and we were chatting around the dinner table and I asked him straight. Would you have one of these fitted in your house.
The answer was no.
If you have no reason to change the boiler, unless you know it’s about to get very expensive don’t change it, renting is a business.
If your boiler breaksdown and you inform the tenant that you were going to put in a heat pump and they do not like it, then explain they have the option to leave or you will issue a section 21 because they feel uncomfortable with this being done. Do you really want to go through this? . Or they can pay for a boiler to be put in and donate it to you, of course that isn’t going to happen.
Once you got your property back, it will be advertised correctly with a heat pump to any idiot who wants to rent it
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Would / could tenant object to th essential upgrading or replacement of a gas boiler?
Heat pump is the government chosen replacement.
I think you are being exemplary in attending to essential improvements before they become unavoidably urgent.
s21 while it’s still available?
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The disruption this would cause to the person’s home would be significant. Major works, including redecoration, should take place in void periods. Did you forewarn the renter? No. You want to do the works now because you get a grant? Tough. And you want to increase their running costs as a result? It’s things like this that give landlords a bad name. And I am a landlord
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Unless you already have a Crated EPC you can now use the fact that this is to improve the EPC rating and therefore have a right to do it
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I have had a heat pump fitted in an off grid, so lpg heating.
The fitting was a lot more disruption than I expected, took 3 days without heat then the bills are higher and the heating takes hours to heat up.
I would not recommend or fit one again.
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good example of not fitting that system Thanks for the imput.