If your home is on a heat network

Heat networks (sometimes called 'district' or 'communal' heating) are a way of heating blocks of flats or groups of homes.

If your home is on a heat network, you might pay your heating bills to a management company or housing association. If you're renting, you might pay your heating bill as part of your rent.

You might also have to pay for maintenance costs - how much you need to pay can change over time.

If you already live in a home on a heat network and you're having problems there are steps you can take to solve them.

If you haven't decided to move in yet it's worth checking how much you'll pay for heating bills and maintenance first.

If you want to switch supplier or disconnect your heating supply

You can’t switch heat network supplier because the supplier usually owns the heating equipment.

You usually can’t disconnect your home from the heat network. This is often because:

• your contract or lease says you must use it

• your home doesn’t have a gas supply or the equipment to run its own heating 

• removing one home from the heat network would cause problems for the rest of the homes on the network

• it would be too expensive

Your heat network supplier might say they can disconnect you if you pay a fee - check your contract for how much it would cost. If it’s not in your contract, ask your supplier.

If you’re struggling to pay your heat network bills

You should:

• check if there are ways to save money on your bills

• check if your bill is correct

• contact the company or person you pay your bills to and discuss ways to pay what you owe 

It’s important to deal with your heat network bills as soon as you can. If you don’t, your heat network supplier might disconnect your heating and hot water or you might lose your home.

Check what to do if you’re struggling with your heat network bills.

If you haven’t got a heat network bill in a while

You should get a bill:

• at least once every 3 months if you get bills online, for example by email or on a website or app

• at least twice per year if you get bills in another way, for example by post

If you haven’t got a bill in a while, contact the company or person you pay your bills to. Ask them to send you a bill and explain how it’s calculated.

If they don’t send you a bill, you can complain. Check how to complain to the company or person you pay your bills to.

If there’s a problem with your heat network

The most common problems are where:

• the heating has stopped working for everyone on the same heat network - this is called an ‘outage’

• there’s a problem with your meter or Heat Interface Unit (HIU)

Your heat network supplier is responsible for making sure your heat network, meter and HIU work properly.

Contact your landlord or heat network supplier if you think there’s a problem. It’s worth making a complaint if: 

• they don’t reply when you report the problem

• they don’t fix it in a reasonable amount of time

Your supplier should give you information about how to make a complaint, and how they deal with complaints.

Check what to do if there’s a problem with your heat network.

If you need extra support

If you need extra support managing your heating, you can apply to be added to your heat network’s priority support register (PSR). Check your supplier's website, your contract or bills to find out how they can support you when you’re on their PSR. For example, your supplier might:

• send you bills in an accessible format, for example in large print or braille

• send your bills to another person - for example, a family member or carer 

• send someone to check your meter regularly

You'll normally be able to get priority support if you’re classed as 'vulnerable'. You might not consider yourself vulnerable, but if you meet the criteria you could get extra help.

You could be classed as vulnerable by your supplier if you're disabled or have a long-term health condition. This includes hearing, sight and mental health conditions. Your supplier might also class you as vulnerable if:

• you’ve reached your State Pension age

• you don't speak or read English well

• you have children under 5 or are pregnant

• you would struggle to answer the door or get help in an emergency

• you’re recovering from an injury

If your situation isn't listed above, you might still be able to sign up for priority support for other reasons. For example, if you're recently bereaved or you've returned to living independently after being in residential care.

If your heat network supplier does not yet have a PSR, you should contact them. Ask when they will get one. 

Sign up to your electricity supplier’s Priority Services Register

Your electricity supplier might also have a PSR. Check how to get on your electricity supplier’s priority support register.

If you're thinking about moving into a home on a heat network

Ask whoever you're buying or renting from for details about your heating supply.

It's worth asking for everything in writing and keeping it in case you need it in future.

Ask about:

• how much their heating and hot water cost each year, maintenance charges and service fees you'll have to pay - ask for an estimate if you can't get exact numbers

• how you pay for heating - for example, as a separate bill or as part of your rent

• how the amount of heat you use is measured - for example, recorded on a meter

• how reliable the heat network is - ask how often they have outages or problems

• who to contact if there's a problem

You should also check whether the heat network is part of a consumer scheme like the Heat Trust. If it is, you'll have more protection if you have problems with your heat supply.

If you think something seems unfair you should ask about it and get your answer in writing. Keep it as evidence in case you need to challenge something in future.

Further help

Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service if you need more help - a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone.