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Government introduction of formal statutory regulation for heat networks in England, Wales and Scotland is planned to begin during 2025-26.
The statutory route to regulation is primary legislation through the Energy Act 2023 and the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021.
These Acts will be underpinned by secondary legislation in the form of specific Statutory Instruments (SIs) relating to heat networks, such as the Heat Networks (Market Framework) (Great Britain) Regulations 2025. Some details of the regulations will be different in Scotland (as devolved matters) and will be enacted through Scottish SIs.
The SIs will in turn be underpinned by a set of conditions under which heat suppliers and heat network operators are authorised to undertake their regulated activities. These authorisation conditions will contain consumer protections that are similar, but not identical, to those set out in gas and electricity supply licences.
The new regulations will build on the foundations set by Heat Trust’s existing consumer protection standards but will also go further, for example by covering pricing. They will also contain mandatory minimum technical standards for both new and existing heat networks.
Ofgem will be the regulator for heat networks across the whole of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). The statutory consumer advocacy bodies are Citizens Advice (for England and Wales) and Consumer Scotland (for Scotland), with GB heat network consumers having right of recourse to the Energy Ombudsman.
What is the regulatory timetable?
The statutory roles of Citizens Advice, Consumer Scotland and the Energy Ombudsman started on 1 April 2025. From that date, all heat network consumers can go to Citizens Advice (for England and Wales) and Advice Direct Scotland for help with heat network issues. All heat network consumers can also now take unresolved complaints about their heat supplier to the Energy Ombudsman, though for non-Heat Trust registered heat networks this is only where the subject of the complaint occured on or after 1 April 2025. The Energy Ombudsman will continue to consider unresolved complaints about Heat Trust registered heat networks against Heat Trust's Scheme standards, regardless of whether the complaint arose before or after this date.
Ofgem will not begin regulating the sector until January 2026, when some but not all of its authorisation conditions will start to take effect. The majority of Ofgem regulations are planned to be in place and enforced by January 2027.
There are three main parts to the planned regulations, which collectively make up the government’s heat network market framework.
Authorisation and consumer protection
All GB heat suppliers / heat network operators will need to be authorised by Ofgem. Conditions of these authorisations will include compliance with consumer protection standards of conduct. Ofgem will have powers to monitor compliance and take enforcement action for any breaches of the conditions.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Ofgem have issued two joint consultations, in 2023 and 2024, on their planned consumer protection measures - including draft including authorisation conditions. You can find links to these consultations and copies of Heat Trust's responses here.
Ofgem has also separately consulted on the regulatory activities and processes which will underpin the regulatory framework. You can find a link to that consultation, and a copy of Heat Trust's response, here.
Further Ofgem consultations will be undertaken during 2025 and 2026. These will include more detailed proposals and guidance about specific areas of consumer protection (e.g. pricing and Guaranteed Standards of Performance) and for specific regulatory activities (such as compliance monitoring and enforcement). Due to the number of planned consultations, we can't necessarily detail each of them on this page. However, you can find all our consultation responses here. You can also find a summary of DESNZ's and Ofgem's planned consultations on pages 13-15 of the government's August 2025 response to its most recent consumer-protections consultation.
You can find out more about the progress of Scottish heat networks regulations here.
Heat network zoning
Government will have powers to designate areas as ‘heat network zones’ where heat networks are expected to be the lowest cost solution for decarbonising heat. Certain buildings within zones may be required to connect to heat networks within a specified timeframe. This supports government’s target of supplying 20% of homes through heat networks by 2050.
The specific regulations around zoning will be different in Wales and Scotland to those in England.
DESNZ's consultation on zoning proposals for England closed on 26 February 2024 and its response is expected during 2025. You can find the consultation here and Heat Trust's response here. DESNZ also has a collection of information about zoning here. Scottish regulations on zoning are already being brought in, and you can find details here. The Welsh government's Heat Strategy for Wales includes its approach to zoning and you can find it here.
Technical standards, carbon emissions limits and arrangements for financial resilience
Heat network operators will be required by their Ofgem authorisation conditions to comply with a GB-wide code that sets out minimum technical standards. Under the code, heat networks will need to achieve certification against these standards - which are designed to ensure network performance and efficiency.
The standards will replace the existing Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations, as well as build on current voluntary engineering standards such as the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers' (CIBSE's) Code of Practice 1 (CP1). They are being designed by the Heat Networks Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS) Programme, which you can find information about here. A consultation on these standards is expected during 2025, with pilots also taking place throughout 2024-25. The standards are expected to be brought in within 2026, with existing heat networks given a further period in which to achieve compliance with them.
Heat networks are fuel-agnostic in that they can be connected to any fuel source. They’re therefore set to play a key role in government’s net zero objectives. Regulation is expected to include decarbonisation targets for heat networks, with these requirements still to be determined.
Ofgem will also put in place measures to mitigate the risk and impact to consumers if their heat supplier goes out of business or performs consistently poorly.
Heat Trust has long advocated for statutory regulation of the heat networks sector. We're firmly behind the intent of the planned statutory protections for heat network consumers and believe that they can’t come quickly enough.
Our Heat Trust Scheme rules are the foundations on which the formal regulations will build. Registering with Heat Trust now gives consumers confidence and helps heat suppliers get regulation ready.
Ofgem and DESNZ say: ‘The Heat Trust's established role in setting industry standards provides a strong foundation upon which the new regulation will build and their continued involvement will aid transition, ensuring continuity, and reducing risk of disruption for the sector and its consumers … [We] encourage parties to follow existing good practice, such as that set out by the Heat Trust.’
Between now and the start of full Ofgem regulation in 2027, our continued involvement will help ensure that:
- Consumers remain front and foremost in regulatory design and decision making (by engaging in consultations and regulatory forums, sharing our insight and expertise)
- Heat suppliers are ready for regulation (by registering and auditing as many as possible under our Scheme)
- There is no gap in consumer protections (by continuing our Scheme until the point that equivalent Ofgem regulations are in place and enforced, which we expect to be in early 2027)
As the independent consumer champion for heat networks in Great Britain, Heat Trust’s input to regulation won’t be limited purely to matters covered by our Scheme. We’re not a trade association and we don’t lobby on behalf of either our Scheme participants or heat suppliers generally.
While we’ll publicise key regulatory developments through our website and LinkedIn, we can’t urge heat suppliers strongly enough to engage directly in the regulatory consultation process.
We’ll publish all of Heat Trust’s responses to government consultations here.
You can find out more at the links below:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/heat-networks
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-networks
https://www.gov.scot/policies/renewable-and-low-carbon-energy/heat-networks
https://www.gov.wales/heat-strategy-wales-html
You can also sign up to receive updates from Ofgem and DESNZ here:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/heat-networks
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKBEIS_HN/subscriber/new?preferences=true#tab1