New guide: registering a heat network with Ofgem before 26 January 2027

With under three months to go, we've published a guide to registering a heat network with Ofgem. It's written for the organisations most likely to be caught out: landlords and freeholders with communal heating, housing associations, universities, and anyone else running a shared heating system who has never thought of themselves as a heat supplier.

What we checked

We re-checked the deadline against the regulations and Ofgem's own pages this week. The regulations end the first part of the initial period on the day before the first anniversary of 27 January 2026, which is 26 January 2027, and Ofgem's registration pages give the same date. Ofgem's original registration guidance document says 27 January, and Ofgem has proposed correcting it. Plan for the 26th.

The short version

Registration applies to the operator and the supplier of each heat network, which can be the same organisation[source], on district heat networks serving 2 or more buildings, and communal heat networks serving one building divided into separate premises[source]. In a leasehold block, the operator is typically the freeholder, though it may be a Right to Manage or residents' management company[source].

Missing the deadline doesn't switch off your existing authorisation, but it does breach one of its conditions, which opens the door to enforcement. Ofgem has said that its priority in the first year is to understand the sector, with more serious action where firms don't engage, customers are harmed or it needs to deter others[source].

New schemes face a separate change: from 27 January 2027 they must be authorised by Ofgem before they start operating or supplying[source].

What to do now

Work out which of your buildings are heat networks, who the operator and supplier are for each, and ask Ofgem for access to its digital service early, because access isn't instant. The guide has a checklist, and our timeline now includes both January 2027 dates.