Newer means better sealed. A 1990s or 2000s detached with cavity walls and decent glazing has perhaps half the heat loss of a similar sized Edwardian house in Hale, and half the heat loss means half the flow temperature problem. In practice we can often bring these houses down to 45 degrees with modest radiator changes rather than a whole-house replacement, and 45 is where a heat pump starts to look genuinely cheap to run.
A good number of houses here already have wet underfloor heating on the ground floor, usually because it went in when the house was built. That is the best starting point there is. Underfloor runs happily at 35 degrees, which is the most efficient place a heat pump can possibly sit, and it means the ground floor needs nothing doing to it at all.
The planning rules barely register here. Detached houses can have two units, the 1.5 cubic metre cap covers every domestic unit worth fitting, and with these plot sizes the sound calculation is not close. There is a quiet advantage people never think about: the airport is near enough that background noise is genuinely higher here than in the quieter parts of Hale, and the MCS 020 assessment does not mind that at all.
Where it gets interesting is the very large new-builds out towards Ashley Road. Once a house gets past a certain heat loss, one outdoor unit cannot carry it in the cold weather, and the answer is a cascade of two — which is exactly what permitted development now allows on a detached house.
