Is my building in a heat network zone?

It's the first question most building owners ask when they hear about heat network zoning: am I in one? The honest answer, for every building in England today, is no. Not yet. But that short answer hides a lot of useful detail about where zones are likely to appear, how they will be drawn, and how you can tell well in advance if your building is heading towards one.

This guide explains how zones will be identified, what the early schemes mean, and how to keep an eye on your local area without spending hours on it.

Why no building is in a zone yet

The legal powers exist. The Energy Act 2023, Part 8, Chapter 2 (sections 226 to 237)[source] lets the government create heat network zones, and those powers apply to England only[source]. But the Act only sets up the framework. The detail, including how a zone is formally designated and which buildings must connect, has to come in regulations.

Here's where those regulations stand:

And so, inevitably:

That means nobody can say your building is legally inside a zone, and nobody can send you a statutory requirement to connect. If a developer, consultant or salesperson tells you otherwise, ask them which designation they are referring to. There isn't one.

What does exist is a lot of preparatory work. Councils, the government and district heating developers have spent several years mapping where zones are likely to make sense. That work is the best guide you have to whether zoning will reach your building.

How zones will be identified

A zone is meant to be an area where a heat network is expected to be the lowest-cost way to decarbonise heat. The exact method for finding those areas will be set out once the regulations are made. In broad terms, though, the work done so far has looked for places with lots of heat demand packed closely together, nearby sources of low-carbon or waste heat, and large buildings that could anchor a network.

Three sets of organisations are involved:

• The Heat Network Zoning Authority runs the national system. It sits within DESNZ at first, then moves to the Warm Homes Agency once that is set up[source].
• Zone coordination bodies do the local work. These will be set up by local government; the zoning authority can step in if councils cannot agree within 28 days[source]. In practice, expect your city council or combined authority to play this role.
• Zone developers build and run the network once a zone exists. They will be appointed through competition, with exclusive rights to develop a heat network in the zone delivery area[source].

The policy design for all of this comes from the government's response to consultation, published 21 January 2026[source]. It is policy, not law, and the details could change when regulations are drafted.

What the zoning pilot found

Before committing to zoning, the government tested the method on real places. The Heat Network Zoning Pilot covered 28 towns and cities in England[source]. For each place, consultants worked with the council to map heat demand and heat sources and to sketch out where zones might go. The results were written up in documents usually called zone opportunity reports.

These reports are the closest thing to a zone map that exists today. They show the areas of a town or city where the analysis suggested a heat network could work, often centred on a city core, a hospital or university cluster, or a regeneration area. They are not legal boundaries. They were produced to test the method, and the final zones may look quite different once the regulations set out the rules.

If your building is in or near one of the 28 pilot places, it's worth knowing what the report for your area said. Our city pages summarise what we know, for example Birmingham, Leeds and Greater Manchester.

The first six places and other early schemes

In October 2024 the government went a step further and named the first places to develop actual zones:

These are sometimes called early zones or advanced zoning schemes. Work in these places is further on than anywhere else. If your building sits in one of these areas, such as Plymouth, Sheffield, Bristol or Old Oak and Park Royal, it is more likely than most to be in an early designated zone.

Other schemes are moving too. In Westminster, for example, a district heating scheme is being developed, though it wasn't named in the government's October 2024 announcement. You can read what we know on our Westminster page.

Even in these places, being near an early scheme is not the same as being in a zone. Until designation, the boundaries are working assumptions. And when an early scheme approaches you about connecting before the regulations are in force, that's a commercial conversation, not a legal requirement. It may still be a good deal, but you are free to say no or to take your time.

Zone boundaries and zone delivery areas

You may see two different terms for the area a zone covers. The zone itself is the area designated under the regulations. The government's proposals also refer to a zone delivery area, which is where the zone developer holds its exclusive rights to build the network.

The detail of how these two will relate to each other, and how either will be drawn on a map, will be set by the regulations. What matters for you is simple: if a zone is designated and your building falls within the area the developer has rights over, you could receive a connection notice. Our connection notice guide explains what would happen next.

How to use the zone checker

Our zone checker is the quickest way to see where your building stands. Type in a postcode or a town name and it tells you which of four broad situations you're in:

1. In or near an announced early zone. Your area is one of the places named to develop the first zones. Zoning is most likely to affect you soonest.
2. In or near a zoning pilot place. Your area was studied in the pilot. A zone is plausible but not certain.
3. In the same council area as a pilot place, but some way from it. Zones tend to cover dense urban areas first, so a building on the edge of a council area is less likely to be included early on.
4. No known activity. Your area isn't on either list yet. That could change, because councils have been asked to put forward more areas.

The checker also shows which body is likely to act as zone coordinator. Remember what it can't do. It works from rough centre points and distances, not from designated boundaries, because none exist yet. Treat the result as a reason to pay attention, not a verdict.

More zones are coming

The pilot and the first six places are only the start. The government has opened the process up to more areas. In spring 2026 it ran a call for zone opportunity areas through the Heat Networks Delivery Unit: local authorities invited to submit zone opportunity areas by 29 May 2026[source]. The Warm Homes Plan, published 21 January 2026, including £1bn for heat networks this Parliament[source], also committed to introducing zoning in 2026, though the regulations have not yet been laid.

So if the checker says there's no known activity near you, that's not a guarantee for the future. A council outside the pilot could still have put an area forward.

How to keep an eye on your council

You don't need to track national policy closely. The early warning signs will almost always be local. A few low-effort habits will tell you most of what you need to know.

Find the right team. Most councils with an interest in district heating have an energy, sustainability or climate team. Look on the council website or call the main switchboard and ask who leads on heat networks. Ask to be added to any stakeholder mailing list.

Watch committee papers. Councils publish cabinet and committee papers online. Decisions about heat network strategy, funding bids, delivery partners or zoning studies usually appear there first. A search for "heat network" every few months takes ten minutes.

Read the local plan. Many local plans and supplementary planning documents already contain heat network policies, especially for new development. They show where the council expects networks to grow.

Talk to your neighbours. Large nearby buildings, such as a hospital trust, a university or a big office landlord, are often approached first. If they are in talks with a developer, your building may be next.

Ask directly. If you manage a large site, there's nothing wrong with writing to the council to ask whether your area is being considered for zoning. Councils doing this work generally want to hear from large heat users early.

What to do while you wait

If your building could fall within a future zone, the most useful thing you can do now is understand your own heat demand. For most commercial buildings, whether you're above or below 100 MWh a year decides whether you're covered at all. Our 100 MWh guide walks through the calculation.

It's also worth thinking about plant replacement. If your boilers are due for renewal in the next few years, a decision made now could affect your position later. If you'd like a second opinion on your area or your building, independent heat network consultants who specialise in zoning compliance can help.