That's correct. I spent over a year trying to negotiate with them adding an external insulation because the flat has naked bricks. Their position was basically that they aren't legally forces to do so and finding a contractor is a lot of work.
That's how leasehold and property management works in the UK.
I paid off the mortgage completely: bought the flat. Yet I'm not allowed to eg. better insulate walls, the attic belongs to me, the roof doesn't. If I wanted to replace windows, I would need to pay £100 application fee and justify it. Then the property management company sends their guy "who knows the job" who I pay THEIR AGREED price to replace the windows. Whole process take about 5 months and 3 weeks. Apparently, this is normal with FirstPort. If you want to buy a flat, you either agree to their rules or don't buy a flat. Changing the property management company is close to impossible. I fought many battles with them, all lost.
How many years before the heat pump pays for itself?
I've got friends and family who installed solar panels a decade ago and claim they haven't "broken even" (the investment hasn't paid for itself) yet and that they may never b/c they're now facing maintenance, upgrades and/or replacement of old components. Also their insurance went up b/c of the solar installation (higher likelihood of roof damage, greater risk of fire, etc.)
I'm a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) kinda guy and have remained unencumbered by these "social complexities" so far.
> How many years before the heat pump pays for itself?
In most cases very few, given European electricity prices.
The real problem is that it's usually not possible to just switch to a heat pump in an apartment building, and that's assuming you own and don't rent (and ownership is also much less common in many parts of Europe, although I think it's a bit higher in the UK).
I believe if the electricity is generated with gas it’s still less carbon intensive due to gas power plants being more efficient than gas heaters in homes.
It’s a reasonable guess but apparently heat pumps win
“With today’s refrigerants, heat pumps still reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% compared with a gas boiler, even when running on emissions‐intensive electricity.”
