Tenure by borough
| Borough | Owned | Social rent | Private rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 37.2% | 29.5% | 32.3% |
| Salford | 47.0% | 25.4% | 26.8% |
| Rochdale | 60.3% | 20.9% | 18.3% |
| Oldham | 60.4% | 21.2% | 17.7% |
| Tameside | 60.8% | 21.2% | 17.5% |
| Bolton | 61.5% | 19.8% | 18.0% |
| Wigan | 66.4% | 17.0% | 15.9% |
| Bury | 66.9% | 14.9% | 17.7% |
| Trafford | 69.0% | 15.0% | 15.3% |
| Stockport | 71.1% | 13.3% | 14.4% |
| England and Wales | 61.6% | 17.1% | 20.3% |
Manchester is the outlier: 37.2% owner-occupied, 32.3% privately rented and 29.5% socially rented. Salford follows at 47.0% owned. Stockport, Trafford, Bury and Wigan are the most owner-occupied, all above the England and Wales figure of 61.6%. Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside sit near six households in ten owning, with about a fifth renting socially.
Private landlords
A private landlord has two routes. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is open in every borough: an MCS certified installer applies and takes £7,500 off the price of an air source or ground source heat pump. In selected areas, Greater Manchester's Warm Homes: Local Grant also covers privately rented homes rated EPC D or E, or F or G with a registered exemption, where the landlord supports the Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter. It can pay the full cost, up to £30,000, for a landlord's first property, and half the cost, up to half that limit, for further ones.
A landlord weighing it up will think about the tenant's running costs, the energy rating, disruption during the work and the effect on future lettings. In a flat, the freeholder's consent comes first.
Social housing
243,403 households across the ten boroughs rented from a council or housing association in 2021, 20.7% of the total, with Manchester highest. Social housing is outside the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and its heating changes through the landlord's own programmes and funding. A social tenant who wants to know what is planned should ask the landlord.
Tenants
A tenant cannot apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, but can ask. If officers working on the Warm Homes: Local Grant contact you, tell your landlord, who has to agree. If you rent privately and your home is poorly rated, a short message to your landlord with a link to the scheme can start the conversation.
- Access: agree dates for the survey and the work, and how hot water will be covered while it is done.
- Design: ask to see the heat-loss figures, so you know the home will be warm enough.
- Controls: ask for a proper handover; heat pumps work best left running steadily.
- Bills: ask for the installer's running-cost estimate, since you will usually pay them.
Renting and grants paid
Boroughs with more renting have had fewer grant-funded heat pumps per household. Manchester's rate is about 1.7 per 1,000 households and Tameside's 1.2, against 2.4 in Stockport. That fits a scheme built for owners, though the statistics give no reasons. See grants paid.
Flats and freeholders
In Manchester and Salford, where around a third of households live in flats, the landlord of a flat is often not the owner of the building, so a heat pump needs the freeholder's agreement as well as the landlord's. Class G allows only one unit on a block, up to 0.6 cubic metres, which points towards decisions taken for the whole building. See heat pumps for flats.
Whatever the tenure, the first question for a rented flat is the same: who owns the building, and have they agreed to anything on its outside walls or roof?