Moving Into a Flat With Communal Heating: Bills and Rights

Before treating a flat's heating bill like a normal gas account, ask the landlord or managing agent whether the building uses a heat network. One central source can supply heating or hot water to multiple homes. You may have a heat interface unit and heat meter instead of an individual gas boiler.

This guide covers England, Scotland and Wales. Ofgem's heat-network consumer protections began on 27 January 2026. Northern Ireland follows a separate energy framework.

Get the supplier and charging terms before moving in

Ask for the heat supplier's name, billing contact, supply agreement and tariff. Establish whether charges arrive directly, through a landlord recharge or within a service charge or rent. Those arrangements can require different advice when something goes wrong.

Check the unit rate, standing or availability charge, billing frequency and any minimum payment. Ask what the meter measures and which costs are shared across the building. Avoid assuming that an advertised rent includes all hot water or heating.

Record the answers alongside your move-in bills checklist. Ask who you should call for a heat outage, especially outside office hours.

Keep opening readings and responsibility dates

On the agreed handover date, photograph any accessible heat meter and record its serial number. If you cannot access it, ask for the provider's opening record and how it was obtained. Retain the date your account starts, the keys handover record and the contact details used to report readings.

Review the first bill against that information. Ask the supplier to explain estimated usage, shared charges and any balance dated before your responsibility starts. If an opening reading is missing, ask for an evidence-based review rather than inventing a retrospective figure.

The ordinary energy price cap does not cover heat charges

The gas and electricity price cap does not cap heat-network charges. A building can buy gas under one contract and sell heat under another; its heat tariff is not your domestic gas tariff.

Ofgem's new protections address billing, customer service, complaints and vulnerable consumers. Regulation does not mean your heat bill must match the dual-fuel cap headline, and it does not create an ordinary supplier-switching choice for your flat's communal heat.

Check electricity separately

Your flat may still have a separate domestic electricity account for lighting and appliances. Identify its supplier and opening reading using the energy setup guide. You can compare eligible electricity tariffs on that account without assuming you can switch the heat network.

For household sharing, agree which charges are fixed and how measured heat usage will be split. Keep the actual supplier bill behind the calculation. Our housemate handover checklist helps when responsibility changes later.

If a bill or service is wrong

Complain first through the heat supplier's process. Include the address, account reference, dates, readings, disputed charges and the outcome you want. Retain complaint references and a timeline of any heating or hot-water outage.

Ask the supplier which independent escalation route applies, including the Energy Ombudsman heat-network scheme. Use the current scheme eligibility and complaint procedure before submitting a case. Contact the appropriate consumer advice service if the charge comes through rent or a service charge, or if you need help with payment difficulties or vulnerability support.