I'm refurbishing a small flat that only has a small bedroom, an open plan
living room with kitchen, and a very small bathroom (the hall is really just
a separating are between front door and lounge door so doesn't need
heating).

I wanted to fit gas CH and asked a few local companies for quotes for a
condensing combi system with just 3 (maybe 4) rads and a feed to a
thermostatically controller mixer shower bar that I am going to fit, but
every quote is in the region of £1,700. I'm going to let the flat out so
have to use a Corgi registered company, but I really thought that with such
short pipe runs and a very small boiler I would only be paying around
£1,000. The gas meter is in the cellar and I have been told that they would
have to run a new length of pipe floors down to it (flat is on first floor)
as the pipe which currently supplies the gas fire and gas cooker is of the
wrong gauge? Not sure if this is just a way to justify the high price!

Anyway, if CH is going to be so expensive (and 3 firms have all quoted
similar prices), are there alternatives that I can use to heat this flat?
At present it just has a gas fire in the lounge and a plug in electric
heater in the bedroom. I've thought about storage heaters but am not sure
if that's a viable option as I've never used them myself and don't know if I
quite like the principle of storing heating during the night to use the
following day, particularly if the person in the flat is at work all day???

Can anyone suggest any other options that will give me heat in all three
rooms and provide hot water?

Mike