Nearly a fifth of homes in the UK are privately rented, but the private rental sector currently accounts for 11% of heat pump installations in English dwellings (English Housing Survey). One explanation is that while landlords pay for low-carbon or energy efficiency upgrades, they may not see financial benefits from them, as tenants would benefit from bills savings: this ‘split incentive’ is well recognised and documented. Another underlying tension is that tenants have little agency or say over a process that may lower their bills. How might this play out in the context of heat pump installations?

With this project, we mapped out barriers to decarbonisation and attitudes towards heat pumps in the private rental sector. We also wanted to understand what landlords might require to install low-carbon heating systems in their rental properties, and whether they required a specific package of support compared to other homeowners.

This exploratory stage was intended to lay out the groundwork for solutions that could include policy options, advice and information, or devising new workable commercial models.

While previous research has examined the problem of retrofitting privately rented dwellings (eg, by Centrica and National Retrofit Hub), our work took heat pumps as its focus, using qualitative interviews and a scenario-based approach to understand what support landlords would require.

By mapping barriers to heat pump adoption in the private rental sector and identifying service features which might be attractive to landlords, we will be able to formulate and test possible approaches to decarbonising the private rental sector, especially in a context where EPC reform and new minimum efficiency standards are anticipated.

Changing policy context, such as new minimum energy efficiency standards and EPC reforms, are likely to cause a shift in perceptions towards heat pumps among landlords. This project sought to understand how landlords and tenants can be in the best position to reap the benefits of a clean heat transition. 

With one in five households in the UK currently living in a privately rented home, it is important that these homes are not left behind owner occupied properties. We also want to help landlords ensure that their tenants have a positive experience of clean heat installations to ensure an equitable and inclusive transition.  

This was our first project dedicated to the private rental sector and this exploratory approach is an opportunity to: 

• understand barriers faced by landlords
• map out the stakeholders they engage with and their trusted sources of information
• build on this evidence to imagine what tools might support the clean heat transition in the private rental sector.

This project involved a blend of desk-based research, qualitative interviews and conversations with stakeholders working with landlords in the decarbonisation space. We also developed a range of representative landlord personas.

Our report pointed to key barriers currently slowing down heat pump uptake in the private rental sector:

• heat pumps’ high upfront costs and slow return on investment in a context of diminishing returns
• scepticism towards the technology, with concerns including efficiency, aesthetics, disruption, and availability of a qualified workforce
• scepticism towards government policy, impacted by previous shifts in decarbonisation policies and deadlines, discouraging investment
• impact on tenants and property management, both at the point of installation and beyond.

It also suggested that different landlords’ individual investment horizons and strategies might impact their willingness to invest in their property. UK and devolved governments should seek to support those landlords ready to upgrade their rentals with low-carbon heating where possible, in order to avoid putting tenants at risk of shouldering the costs of the heat transition.