Heat network zoning in England
Offices, hotels, universities, hospitals, leisure and retail.
Consultants, developers, ESCOs and operators.
Zoning regulations
Not yet laid before Parliament
Zones designated
None yet
Ofgem regulation
Since 27 January 2026
No zones are formally designated yet. But zoning work is much further on in some places than others. Check a postcode or town against the 28 zoning pilot places and the early zones announced since.
Postcodes are looked up with postcodes.io. We don't store what you type.
Once a zone is designated, the zone coordination body can send a connection notice to buildings in the covered categories.
6 months from receiving the notice. In this time you either agree a connection date with the zone developer or apply for a temporary exemption.
Negotiate a connection date with the zone developer, or apply for a temporary exemption of up to 2 years from the end of the proposed connection window.
The connection window is at least 12 months long. The window can run at the same time as the 6-month agreement phase.
From the government's January 2026 response. Not yet law. Work out your dates
Independent listings, written by us from public information. Nobody pays to appear.
London · London, North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, South West, South East
Global engineering consultancy that wrote several of the government's zoning pilot reports and co-developed the SWAN scheme in Westminster.
Bath · North East, South East, South West
Engineering consultancy with a place on the government's national heat network zoning framework and three pilot zone reports.
London · London, North West
Heat network specialist focused on existing residential networks, from feasibility and design to performance and regulation readiness.
GOV.UK has updated its page on the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme. Here is what HNTAS is, where it fits alongside Ofgem regulation and what operators can do now.
Zoning will affect thousands of buildings whose owners have never bought heat before. Most of what's written about it is by people with something to sell. This site is independent: not a trade body, not a consultancy, and not connected to DESNZ, Ofgem or any zone developer.
It isn't funded by anyone yet. Listings are free. If we ever charge for featured listings or introductions, they'll be clearly labelled and won't change what we write.