Where the flats are
| Borough | All flats | Purpose-built | Converted building | Electric only | Heat network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 34.6% | 28.1% | 1.79% | 18.3% | 1.09% |
| Salford | 30.4% | 27.8% | 0.61% | 18.1% | 0.73% |
| Trafford | 20.2% | 16.9% | 0.57% | 7.9% | 0.58% |
| Stockport | 16.2% | 13.2% | 0.79% | 6.8% | 0.91% |
| Tameside | 15.2% | 12.9% | 0.68% | 5.7% | 0.36% |
| Bury | 14.3% | 12.1% | 0.45% | 6.1% | 0.25% |
| Bolton | 13.3% | 11.1% | 0.70% | 6.8% | 0.54% |
| Rochdale | 12.8% | 11.0% | 0.39% | 5.6% | 0.35% |
| Oldham | 12.3% | 10.6% | 0.50% | 5.2% | 1.28% |
| Wigan | 9.1% | 7.4% | 0.37% | 5.2% | 0.20% |
| England and Wales | 21.7% | 16.7% | 0.79% | 8.5% | 0.89% |
227,773 households across the ten boroughs lived in a flat in 2021: 191,443 in purpose-built blocks, 28,106 in converted houses and other converted buildings, and 8,224 in flats within commercial buildings. Manchester and Salford stand out, with 34.6% and 30.4%; Wigan has the fewest, 9.1%.
One unit for the building
Permitted development treats a block of flats as one building. Class G allows a single air source unit on it, no larger than 0.6 cubic metres, against 1.5 on a house. In practice that points towards one of three set-ups: a single larger system serving the building, which usually needs a planning application because of its size; individual systems with their outdoor units grouped and approved together through an application; or, where only one flat wants to change, a single unit within the Class G limit, if the building owner agrees.
The position rules apply to blocks too. A unit cannot go on a pitched roof, within a metre of a flat roof's edge, or on a road-facing wall above the ground floor, which rules out many street-side balconies. A rear balcony, a flat roof set back from the edge, or ground level behind the building are the usual candidates.
The freeholder's agreement
A leaseholder normally owns the inside of the flat; the freeholder or management company controls the outside walls, the roof and the shared parts. Fixing a unit to the outside, running pipes through an external wall or using the roof all need written consent, and the lease may set out how to ask. For a tenant, the landlord's agreement comes first and the freeholder's after. Raising the idea at a residents' meeting, with a sense of how many flats are interested, often gets further than a single request.
Electric-heated flats
Electric heating is unusually common in Manchester and Salford: 18.3% and 18.1% of households used it alone in 2021, against 8.5% in England and Wales. Electric-only homes usually have storage heaters or panel heaters rather than radiators. A heat pump moves heat from outside rather than making it, so it usually needs much less electricity for the same warmth, but an air-to-water system means fitting pipes and radiators. Where that is not practical, an air-to-air system can heat a flat with a small outdoor unit, though it does not heat water and is outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Communal heating and heat networks
7,894 households across the ten boroughs were heated by a district or communal heat network alone in 2021, with Oldham (1.28%) and Manchester (1.09%) highest. A block on a heat network shares one heat source, and any change to heat pumps is the building owner's or the network operator's decision, usually taken for the whole building.
Grants for flats
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump for an owner, including a landlord, through an MCS certified installer. Not for air-to-air systems or social housing.
- Warm Homes: Local Grant: Greater Manchester's area-based scheme covers owner-occupied and privately rented homes in selected areas; residents there are contacted by officers. See Warm Homes in Greater Manchester.
- Social housing: blocks owned by councils and housing associations change through their landlords' own programmes.
Before you start
- Use the checker to see which Class G limits apply.
- Read the lease and ask the freeholder or managing agent how to request consent.
- Find out whether the block has communal heating or a heat network.
- Ask an MCS certified installer to survey the flat, including where an outdoor unit could go and whether the sound calculation passes.
Noise in a block
Sound matters more in a block than in a house, because neighbours are above, below and beside. The MCS 020 a) calculation is done to the nearest habitable-room window of a neighbouring home, which in a block may be the flat directly above a ground-level unit or across a light well. Units on a flat roof, set back from the edge, are often the quietest option for everyone. Ask the installer to show the calculation for the actual position before the freeholder is asked to agree.
Sizing for a flat
A flat usually loses less heat than a house of the same floor area, because it shares walls, floors and ceilings with warm neighbours. That means a smaller heat pump, which helps both with the 0.6 cubic metre limit and with finding space. Top-floor and end flats lose more. The room-by-room heat-loss survey sets the size; a flat's old storage heaters are not a guide to it.
The flat or house checker applies these rules to your own block; all ten boroughs shows how many households live in flats in each borough; and Warm Homes in Greater Manchester covers owner-occupied and privately rented flats in the selected areas.