New regulations for heat networks go live on 27 January 2026, and housing providers operating heat networks need to act now to ensure compliance. These regulations aim to improve transparency, consumer protection, and operational efficiency across the sector. For many organisations, this will mean significant changes to processes, reporting, and governance.

At Chirpy Heat, we’ve developed a series of steps to help you get started on the journey to compliance. Below, we outline these steps and how our services can support you.

Getting Started with Heat Network Compliance

1. Understand and Plan Your Compliance

Before anything else, you need a clear picture of where your organisation stands.

What’s required?
It is important to know how your organisation maps against new Ofgem heat network regulatory requirements and have a plan in place to get compliant with the new rules. A clear plan demonstrates to Ofgem that there is a roadmap to compliance within your organisation.

Why it matters
A lack of understanding of heat network regulations and your compliance position could lead non-compliance and an indefensible position with the regulator.

How Chirpy Heat helps

• Regulation Readiness Review: Understand your organisation’s level of compliance/non-compliance with Ofgem heat network regulation.
• Compliance Plan: Develop a clear action plan to compliance with timeframes, responsibilities, milestones and dependencies

2. Understand Your Portfolio and Prepare for Reporting

From 1 April 2026, organisations must report on Ofgem metrics. This means understanding what data is required being able to access it.

What’s required?

Clear information on and oversight of your heat network portfolio including data on heat meter readings, complaints, outages, equipment condition and outages.

Why it matters
Missing or inaccurate data can lead to reporting failures, enforcement action, and reputational damage.

How Chirpy Heat helps

• Heat Network Register: Understand your organisations complete heat network portfolio and what its regulatory role and responsibility is on each network.
• Data Review: Understand the data availability, completeness, quality and granularity in order to meet the requirements of Ofgem regular reporting.
• Asset Register and Condition Report: Catalogue your heat network assets, condition and life-cycle.
• Performance Review for Efficiency/Carbon: Review baselined performance and identify poorly-performing heat networks.

3. Review and Create Policies

Consumer protection is a cornerstone of the new regulations.

What’s required?
Housing providers will need to show that they have consumer

Why it matters:
Missing policies and procedures may mean non-compliance and potential harm to customers.

How Chirpy Heat helps:

• Vulnerable Customer Policy: To ensure your customers are seen as individuals and that their support needs are met across your organisation.
• Income and Debt Policy: Putting in place the structures and processes to support customers who struggle to pay their heat network bills.
• Priority Services Register: Creating a clear, user-friendly Priority Services Register form for residents to complete, along with a simple tracking tool to log, monitor and manage responses
• Customer Complaints Process Review: An assessment of your customer complaints processes and procedures mapped against Ofgem requirements.

4. Review and Set Heat Tariffs and Service Charges

Fair pricing is essential under the new rules.

What’s required?
It is important to have defined heat tariff and service charge methodologies that meets the fair pricing principles and are clearly communicated to customers.

Why it matters:
Unclear or unfair charges lead to complaints and non-compliance.

How Chirpy Heat helps:

• Heat Tariff Evaluation: Structure and Fair Pricing: Reviewing your approach to heat tariffs across your organisation and ensuring it is clear and consistent in terms of structure and fair pricing so it can be justified to both customers and the regulator
• Heat Tariff Creation: Support creating clear and fair tariffs for customers.
• Service Charge Evaluation: Structure and Fair Pricing: Reviewing your approach to service charges – ensuring it is clear, consistent and fair.
• Service Charge Setting (incl. sinking funds): Support setting your service charges to meet Ofgem requirements.

Act Now: Take your first steps on the road to compliance.

The clock is ticking. By starting your compliance journey today, you’ll avoid last-minute stress and demonstrate to Ofgem, and your board, that you have a clear compliance roadmap.

Need support?

Chirpy Heat is here to help you every step of the way. Contact us at [email protected] to discuss how we can support your journey to compliance.

Other ways to get in touch:

• Call 0203 8272 064
• Use our contact form
• Message us on LinkedIn

Join the Chirpy Heat Insight Group – your essential hub for staying informed, equipped, and connected on the road to heat network compliance. This free, exclusive community, brought to you by our heat networks consultancy, helps housing providers stay ahead in managing communal and district heating.

Members gain access to the latest regulatory news, communal heating systems advice, practical tools for strategic planning, insights on decarbonising heat networks, and guidance from Chirpy Heat’s experts and peers. You’ll also benefit from priority access to webinars and events aimed at supporting and guiding housing providers in sustainable heating solutions.

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