How a zone gets designated, step by step

This explainer follows a zone from first identification to the point where buildings are asked to connect. Much of the process will be fixed in regulations that are not yet in force. At our last check their status was: Not yet laid before Parliament[source]. The later steps below describe the government's published policy, which could still change.

Step 1: Finding the areas that suit a network

Every zone starts with analysis. Government's approach uses a national model of heat demand to look for clusters of buildings dense enough to make a shared network the cheapest low-carbon option. The model also maps heat sources: rivers, sewers, energy-from-waste plants, industrial sites and other places with heat to spare.

This method was tested in the heat network zoning pilot, which covered 28 towns and cities in England[source]. Each pilot place received a zone opportunity report setting out candidate zones, their likely heat sources and the main buildings that would anchor a network. Government also published heat network zone maps for many of the pilot towns and cities.

These candidate areas have no legal force. They are the starting point for local work.

The search is widening beyond the pilot. In March 2026 the Heat Networks Delivery Unit asked councils to put forward further areas: Local authorities invited to submit zone opportunity areas by 29 May 2026[source].

Step 2: Setting up a zone coordination body

Each zone needs a local body to run it day to day. Under the government's policy, zone coordination bodies are Set up by local government; the zoning authority can step in if councils cannot agree within 28 days[source].

In practice this will usually be a council or a combined authority. Greater Manchester, for example, is planning for its combined authority to take on the role across its ten boroughs. Our Greater Manchester page has the detail. The who runs it explainer covers each body's job.

Step 3: Refining the boundary locally

National analysis draws rough shapes. Local knowledge sharpens them: planned developments, roads due to be dug up anyway, buildings already committed to other heating, and constraints that a national model cannot see.

Some places have already consulted the public on draft boundaries, ahead of the regulations. Plymouth, Liverpool and the City of London all ran consultations in 2026. These were preparatory. They help councils test their thinking, but they are not the statutory process, which the regulations will set out.

Step 4: Designation

Designation is the formal decision that an area is a heat network zone. It fixes the boundary in law and switches on the duties that go with it. It can only happen under the zoning regulations.

At our last check, the number of zones designated in England was: None yet[source].

Government has said what it plans to do once designation becomes possible: At least 10 of the biggest English towns and cities to get government support to set up zones soon after the zoning regulations go live[source]. The places most likely to be first are those already furthest along. In October 2024 government named the first places to develop zones: Leeds, Plymouth, Bristol, Stockport, Sheffield and two schemes in London, including Old Oak and Park Royal[source]. Our tracker shows where each of them, and every other place, has reached.

Step 5: Choosing the zone developer

A designated zone needs someone to build and run the network. Under the policy, zone developers would be Appointed through competition, with exclusive rights to develop a heat network in the zone delivery area[source].

Several places have already appointed development or delivery partners through their own procurements, including Leeds, Plymouth, Sheffield and Old Oak and Park Royal. Those are council appointments made ahead of the regulations. The government response says projects in the Advanced Zoning Programme may receive zoning rights under transitional arrangements. Until a zone is designated, though, none of these partners is a statutory zone developer.

Step 6: Connection notices

Once the developer is ready to extend the network to a particular building, the process for requiring a connection begins. The policy sets out several conditions and time limits.

During the agreement period, the owner either agrees a connection date with the developer or applies for an exemption.

Step 7: Exemptions

The policy recognises that some buildings should not have to connect, at least not yet. It proposes several grounds.

Some exemptions would be temporary rather than permanent. A temporary exemption would last Up to 2 years from the end of the proposed connection window[source].

Step 8: Enforcement

A requirement to connect needs a sanction behind it. The government proposes a maximum penalty of Up to £1 million or 10% of annual turnover, whichever is higher[source], alongside fixed penalties. Owners would be able to appeal: Appeals to be lodged within 28 days[source].

These are policy proposals. The figures will only become law when they appear in the regulations.

What owners will not have to do

It is worth being clear about the limits. A building that is not in one of the categories covered by the policy would not receive a notice at all. Most existing houses with their own boilers fall outside those categories. A building that is covered would not be asked to connect until the network can actually reach it, and would have the agreement period to respond. Nothing in the process requires a building owner to act before a notice arrives.

How long it all takes

Even once the regulations are in force, the journey from candidate area to connected buildings will take years. Designation, the developer competition, design, planning consent and construction each take time, and the notice periods alone add at least 18 months for any individual building.

That is why the early work matters. Places that have already mapped their zones, set up coordination arrangements and appointed partners will be in a position to move quickly once designation is possible. The timeline records every dated step so far, and the changelog logs each change as it happens.