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.

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 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’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 per year if you don’t have a meter

• at least once every 3 months if you have a meter

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

Ask whoever you're buying or renting from for details about your energy 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 - ask for an estimate if you can't get exact figures

• any maintenance charges and service fees you'll have to pay

• contact details for the heat network supplier and information about who you should speak to 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.

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

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

If you need help with your heat network supplier

If you need more help with a heat network issue you should contact Advice Direct Scotland. You can find contact details for Advice Direct Scotland on energyadvice.scot.