This is my first comment, but since it’s my job might as well:

The fact that you need a well insulated house for a heat pump is absolutely not true. What you need is a house where the expected heat loss at the design temperature can be added to the house using low temperature heating such as in floor heating. You can live in a cardboard box for all intends and purposes, if you can keep your house warm with (loads of) 35-40C water you are fine. Your energy bill will be enormous, but it would be as well if you would burn gas in a stove.

Does insulation help? Obviously. The most energy efficient, sustainable and comfortable kWh of heat is the one you don’t need. Is it a requirement? Absolutely not.

Source, ex aerospace engineer that advices and installs heat pumps for residential buildings