With the January 2026 response published, spring regulations expected, and pilot zones advancing, heat network zoning is now a planning issue for UK buildings.

Heat policy is moving from consultation to delivery

The UK heat network sector is entering a decisive year. In January 2026, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published its response to the 2023 heat network zoning consultation. Secondary legislation is expected to be laid in Parliament in spring 2026, subject to parliamentary time. Six pilot zones have been announced and are moving from paper to project.

For UK building owners, developers, occupiers and investors, this is a significant commercial and residential heating policy shift. Zoning asks where heat infrastructure should be planned at the area scale, rather than assessed building by building.

The Energy Act framework is now being built out

The primary powers sit in Part 8 of the Energy Act 2023. The Act allows the government to designate geographical areas in England as heat network zones, where certain buildings and low-carbon heat sources may be required to connect within a specified period, with limited exemptions.

The Act does not designate zones by itself. That work depends on secondary legislation and new bodies. DESNZ has said a national Heat Network Zoning Authority will be established, initially within the department, before moving to the Warm Homes Agency. Local Zone Coordination Bodies, typically local authorities, will support designation, competitive appointment of zone developers and coordination.

The government wants heat networks to supply around 7% of England’s heat by 2035, equivalent to 27TWh, rising to around 20% of total UK heat by 2050. Current UK heat network coverage remains only a small fraction of that.

Zoning changes where heat decisions are made

Heat network zoning is not the same as heat networks themselves. Heat networks already operate across the UK. Zoning introduces a coordinated framework for identifying where they should be developed as the preferred long-term heating solution.

A district heat network generates heat centrally in an energy centre, then distributes it through insulated underground pipes to connected buildings. Heat interface units transfer that heat into internal systems. Heat sources can include large heat pumps, waste heat recovery, biomass, combined heat and power, geothermal and solar thermal.

Zoning identifies areas where shared infrastructure is likely to provide the lowest-cost, lowest-carbon outcome: high heat demand, dense building clusters, anchor loads such as hospitals or universities, and infrastructure that can support network development.

Within designated zones, new buildings will need to be designed to enable future connection. Existing buildings above an expected 100MWh annual heat demand threshold may also be required to connect within a set period.

Sustainable Energy, a UK sustainable energy consultancy working across heat networks, heat pumps, energy strategy and decarbonisation, has published a guide to district heat network zoning.

Pilot zones are giving the policy a delivery test

In October 2024, DESNZ announced the first heat network zoning pilots in Leeds, Plymouth, Bristol, Stockport, Sheffield and two areas of London. The pilots are sharing £5.8m of government funding, with construction expected from 2026.

Published material from the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation describes a west London heat network expected to use excess heat from nearby data centres. The project is planned across five phases from 2026 to 2040 and is expected to deliver 95GWh of heat for more than 10,000 new homes, businesses and a major hospital. It also received £36m from the Green Heat Network Fund in November 2023.

Leeds shows the scale involved. A Zone Opportunity Report identified 26 potential heat network zones, with a total demand of around 1,000GWh a year. The largest single zone, in Leeds city centre, included approximately 2,015 buildings and 750GWh of annual heat demand. SSE Energy Solutions also secured £19.5m from the Green Heat Network Fund in February 2025 for the Aire Valley Heat and Power Network.

DESNZ has indicated that at least ten of England’s largest towns and cities will be supported to establish heat network zones shortly after regulations come into force, with further zones expected through an annual national pipeline.

The May deadline will shape the next pipeline

In March 2026, DESNZ invited strategic and local authorities in England to submit information on potential zone opportunity areas by 29 May 2026.

The process is intended to build the next pipeline beyond the initial pilots. Once submissions are reviewed, a limited number of areas may receive funding and technical assistance to support initial or full implementation locally.

For the market, local submissions will shape where the next wave of heat network opportunity is assessed, prioritised and potentially designated. Zones brought forward over the next 12 to 18 months will influence where early connection discussions, procurement activity and asset-level planning gather pace.

Large urban assets need closer attention

For building owners and occupiers, the first question is exposure. Larger heated assets in dense urban areas are most likely to be affected, particularly where they sit above the anticipated 100MWh annual heat demand threshold. That may include office blocks, hotels, hospitals, universities, larger residential developments and public sector estates.

New developments within zones will need to consider heat network readiness. Even where connection is not yet mandatory at construction, future compatibility may affect plant rooms, risers, internal distribution systems, procurement and phasing.

Building-level heat decarbonisation plans now need to be tested against the emerging zoning framework. In some locations, connection may become required or preferred. In others, individual building systems may remain appropriate. Location, demand profile, building type and local designation will determine the answer.

For portfolio holders across UK cities, understanding whether assets fall within potential zones is now time-sensitive. DESNZ has committed to publishing National Zoning Model outputs through a new digital service, including an interactive map of designated and pipeline zones.

Zoning sits inside the wider heat transition

Heat network zoning sits alongside wider UK heat decarbonisation measures, including the Future Homes Standard, Boiler Upgrade Scheme, Heat and Buildings Strategy, Clean Heat Market Mechanism and Warm Homes Plan.

The Climate Change Committee has identified heat networks as a necessary part of the UK’s long-term decarbonisation pathway, alongside heat pumps and building efficiency. Dense urban heat demand can suit shared infrastructure, particularly where large heat sources can be captured and distributed effectively.

Under the emerging regulatory framework, Ofgem is becoming the heat networks regulator, with consumer protection intended to move the sector closer to standards expected in gas and electricity markets. Technical assurance is developing through the Heat Network Technical Standard TS1 and the Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme, which sets minimum performance requirements for design and operation.

Together, zoning, regulation and technical standards are turning heat networks into a more structured infrastructure market.

From policy signal to infrastructure decision

The most useful current position is not to wait for every final regulation before taking a view. Zone opportunity information is being submitted by local authorities through May 2026. Pilot zones are moving into construction. Secondary legislation is expected in spring 2026, subject to parliamentary time.

The first mandatory connection requirements are expected to apply within 12 to 24 months of designation. The most exposed buildings and portfolios are large, heated assets in dense urban areas across England’s largest cities.

Heat network zoning has been in development for several years. As of the January 2026 government response and expected spring 2026 regulations, it has become a live UK business consideration, and one that will shape heating infrastructure decisions across the country for the next 25 years.

Heat network zoning has moved from policy speculation to live UK business consideration in the space of six months. For UK building owners, developers, occupiers and investors across major English population centres, the emerging zone pipeline is now a matter of practical planning rather than policy speculation.