Compliance readiness
Clear pathway to regulations
Portfolio assessment
14 heat networks analysed
Investment strategy
Roadmap for cost upgrades
Background
Great Places, a social housing provider, asked FairHeat to carry out a portfolio review of 14 communal heat networks across the North of England.With new regulations coming into force in 2026/27, organisations
must understand where they may fall short, the risks this creates, and the investment required to become compliant.
Portfolio reviews provide this visibility. They help heat network owners assess the current condition of their assets, pinpoint areas of non-compliance, and identify where to focus future investment. Without this insight, owners can underestimate the scale, cost, and urgency of the upgrades needed, leading to unplanned expenditure and operational issues later on.
This is particularly important for this client’s portfolio, which primarily serves older residents who may be more vulnerable to fuel poverty. Establishing a clear compliance pathway enables the organisation to plan improvements in a structured way while ensuring more reliable, efficient heat delivery for residents who need
it most.
FairHeat conducted a high-level audit of each site, including eEnergy centre assessments to identify asset condition, identify gaps in metering, data capture, pressure monitoring and water quality equipment.
This is to ensure alignment with the draft Heat Network Technical Assurance Standard (also known as HNTAS) specifications. As well as distribution network inspections, focusing on insulation quality, heat loss and opportunities for metering, and dwelling-level assessments to highlight feasibility of installing meters, pinpoint bypass/insulation issues and identify quick win strategies.
Challenge
The primary objective was to help the client understand:
- Areas of potential regulatory exposure across the portfolio.
- The interventions required to mitigate risk of non-compliance.
- How to prioritise investment across all schemes in the portfolio.
Such an understanding is crucial for the organisation, as before the review,
key network data was limited or unknown, including:
- Full asset inventories and age of equipment.
- Actual vs. expected heat losses.
- Pipework condition, routing and insulation quality across distribution networks.
The client required a cost-effective, portfolio-wide assessment that would establish a clear compliance and investment roadmap, supporting funding applications, capital works planning, and step by step compliance costs.
FairHeat Solution
FairHeat delivered a structured portfolio review across all sites, providing a consistent evaluation framework and a clear strategy for next steps.
Proposed and Assessed Measures Included:
- Installation of energy centre and network meters.
- Upgrades to water quality equipment.
- Targeted insulation improvements to reduce heat losses.
- Network temperature reduction strategies.
- Categorisation of all networks based on compliance risk, asset condition and the associated investment required.
Portfolio Categorisation:
Four sites required extensive works and are unlikely to reach compliance without wider network upgrades, eight sites required moderate or minor works, such as the introduction of metering and improvements to water quality equipment and two sites were of a sufficiently small scale that they are not expected to be captured by the draft Heat Network Technical Assurance Standard, meaning no urgent interventions are needed. However, we still provided recommendations to help to reduce heat consumption and improve efficiency.
Strategic Support
FairHeat also supported the client with:
- Development of a prioritisation roadmap outlining phased action plan to achieve
compliance. - Identification of funding opportunities, including the preparation and support for the
Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) revenue applications in Round 10 & 11
for optimisation studies funding. - Translation of findings into actionable, site-specific and portfolio wide reports.
Result
The portfolio review provided the client with a clear, actionable understanding of how their networks are performing, whether their networks are likely to be compliant with upcoming regulations, how to make
them compliant and investment priorities across their networks within the portfolio.
Key Outcomes Deleivered by FairHeat:
- 14 heat networks audited and reports delivered to clients within a three-month
turnaround. - Audits delivered at ~20% of the cost of full optimisation studies while still
providing critical information specific insights. - 100% of sites assessed were expected to require upgrades to be compliant with the
Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme. - Developed a prioritisation strategy to target investment where it will have the
greatest impact. - Supported the client with 4 grant funding applications to the Heat Network Efficiency
Scheme for optimisation studies. - Taken steps to support 331 residents in at-risk buildings benefit from future
improvements.
Potential impact if recommendations are implemented:
- 1,157,000 kWh/year of heat saved, equivalent to the annual gas heating
consumption of 100 homes (Ofgem). - £200/year per resident of potential cost savings
- 250 ton CO₂/year reduction, equivalent to planting 11,000 trees in the UK.
- Significant improvements in network reliability, data visibility, and customer
satisfaction.
Overall Value Delivered
The portfolio review gave the client a clear understanding of current network performance, visibility of the investment scale required for compliance, a prioritisation roadmap to meet HNTAS standards and a cost-effective approach to planning upgrades across the portfolio. All of the information gathered could then be used as strong evidence to support Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) grant funding applications.
Client Feedback
“The portfolio review carried out by FairHeat gave Great Places a clear, robust and practical understanding of the condition and performance of our heat network assets.
Their assessment has helped us plan with confidence and make sure we’re aligned with sector regulations, budget requirements and our longer-term business plan. The insight they provided has given our leadership team reassurance that our future
investment priorities are well thought through and strategically sound. Overall, the work delivered by FairHeat has had a positive and meaningful impact, helping us strengthen how we prioritise, budget, manage and improve our heat networks.”
Lisa Sharples
Energy & Heat Networks Manager.
