Hundreds of thousands on heat networks could be at risk of losing home over hidden heating debts, warns Citizens Advice
Bundling of housing and heating costs leaves a third of heat network consumers at risk of eviction or forfeiture if they fall behind on bills.
Charity warns that without urgent action, over 1.2 million people in England and Wales could be affected by 2050.
Citizens Advice calls for stronger eviction protections for renters facing heating debt and the abolition of leaseholder forfeiture.
Over 360,000 people are at risk of losing their homes if they fall behind on heating bills, due to a dangerous loophole in how their heating is billed, Citizens Advice has warned today.
Heat networks, sometimes called 'district' or 'communal' heating, are a way of heating blocks of flats or groups of homes from a shared central source, like a large boiler.
A third (34%) of heat network consumers pay for their heating within their rent or service charges, a practice known as "bundling." Because these are tied to housing, falling behind on bills creates a hidden debt that can be treated as a breach of a tenancy agreement or lease.
Unlike an energy company, which cannot threaten a customer with eviction for non-payment of an energy bill, landlords and managing agents can use eviction proceedings or the threat of forfeiture to recover these bundled debts. Forfeiture is a legal process, similar to eviction, when a landlord applies to a court to end the lease and repossess the property.
Citizens Advice warns that if heat networks expand to meet government targets without reforming bundled charges, over 1.2 million people could risk losing their home by 2050 if they fall behind on their heating bill. As well as closing the loophole that allows these bundled charges, the charity wants the government to accelerate the roll-out of individual meters which should give residents more control over their bills.
Shock bill concerns
Because housing law overrides Ofgem regulation, bundling energy into service charges strips consumers of basic billing protections. Consumers who have a bundling of housing and heating costs can be billed for energy use up to 18 months ago - or even longer in some cases - bypassing Ofgem’s 12-month cap. They also face retrospective price hikes and no control over billing frequency or payment methods. This lack of transparency leaves them at greater risk of debt and losing their home.
Citizens Advice found:
Half (52%) of bundled consumers receive no bill, account summary, or statement detailing what they pay for heating and hot water, compared to just 11% of those who pay separately.
7 in 10 (72%) people with bundled charges do not know the amount of their last heating payment.
6 in 10 (58%) bundled consumers do not know what type of tariff they are on.
1 in 7 (15%) heat network consumers who pay for their heating and housing costs together via a service charge are excluded from Ofgem’s new billing, back-billing, and pricing protections.
Kerisha’s Story
When Kerisha and her partner moved into their rented flat in Bath, she wasn’t told it was on a heat network. As a result, they had no idea they needed to set up an account and were unwittingly receiving heating without being billed. When she was told later, and set up an account, she was shocked to be hit with a massive back-bill for the entire time they had lived there.
“We had come from a property before that was electricity only. So we just assumed this was the same. We thought £1,600 was a bit much for the amount of time we had stayed there. But once we gave the reading, the bill shot up to over £3,000.
“I rang them back to complain that the bill didn’t make sense. How could it be that much? Considering what they had estimated, how did it jump to double?
“Financially it knocked us out. We were also in the process of doing IVF so the money we had was set aside for that. Not for a very unexpected £3,000 bill that we just had to fork out for just then.
“It has been stressful financially and caused us a bit of trauma during that time. We were both upset, especially my husband. It was horrible.”
Urgent action needed
Unlike standard energy consumers who are shielded by strict regulatory safeguards, some heat network customers are left with significantly fewer legal rights. To close this glaring protection gap, Citizens Advice is calling for immediate government and regulatory intervention to stop unfair back-billing and end the risk of eviction over heating arrears.
Citizens Advice is calling for:
Stronger eviction protections: Social renters need the same protection against eviction when they fall behind on heating bills in England as they do in Wales. Courts must also have greater oversight of private tenants facing eviction for heating debts.
Protection for leaseholders: The threat of forfeiture for debt must be abolished.
An end to unfair back-billing: Ofgem must ensure the energy companies supplying heat networks uphold the non-domestic Standards of Conduct to prevent long-term retrospective billing.
Access to metering: To make sure fewer people face bundled charges in future and have more control over their bills, the government must progress proposals for the roll-out of individual metering with ambitious timelines.
Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
"It is entirely unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of people face the threat of losing their home if they fall behind on their bills, simply because of how they pay for their heating.
"While new Ofgem regulation has brought vital protections to many on heat networks, outdated housing rules mean people with bundled heating and housing charges could spiral into housing arrears and face eviction..
"The government must urgently close this loophole. We need targeted action from the government and regulators to make sure no one loses their home because of their energy bill."
Notes to editors:
Between February and May 2026, IFF Research surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,266 heat network consumers on behalf of Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice, Heat Network Consumer Survey, 2026.
Heat networks, sometimes called 'district' or 'communal' heating, are a way of heating blocks of flats or groups of homes from a shared central source, like a large boiler.
Forfeiture is a legal process, similar to eviction, when a landlord applies to a court to end the lease and repossess the property.
The government estimates that over 453,000 households are connected to a heat network in England and Wales. DESNZ, Heat Networks registered under the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations statistics: December 2022, Table 1.3b. Citizens Advice data indicates that 34% of these consumers pay their heating and hot water charges as part of their rent or service charge ('bundled' charges). Citizens Advice, Heat Network Consumer Survey, 2026, Table 1. This is equivalent to approximately 152,000 households or 367,000 people in England and Wales, based on an average household size of 2.4 people.
By 2050, if the sector grows to meet government targets without reforming this two-tier system or improving heat network infrastructure, up to half a million households (1.2 million people) could be subject to bundled charges. This is based on a projected growth of domestic consumers on heat networks from 3% currently to 20% in 2050. We’ve also assumed the proportion of people with bundled charges will drop over the next 20 years, due to the installation of individual meters, at the same rate as bundled charging has dropped in the last 10 years due to previous metering regulations. The proportion of people with bundled charges dropped from 47% in 2017 (BEIS, Heat networks consumer survey, Results Report, December 2017, page 45) to 34% in 2026 (Citizens Advice, Heat Network Consumer Survey, 2026, Table 1). Applying the same rate of decrease of bundled charging to the next 20 years would leave approximately 17% with bundled charges: 514,000 households or 1,234,000 people, based on an average household size of 2.4 people.
Universal Credit regulations state that charges for heating, lighting, and hot water are ineligible for housing support, meaning tenants must cover these from their standard allowance, leading to arrears when costs are bundled into rent.
Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets in England and Wales.
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