Sharing the Warmth

How communities like yours could benefit from district heating systems.

District heating systems, also known as heat networks, provide heating and hot water to multiple homes and buildings from a shared source instead of each property relying on its own boiler or heating system. For rural communities that still depend on expensive, polluting heating oil, community heat networks could offer a cleaner and more reliable alternative.

Imagine houses across England kept warm through cold, wet winters by renewable energy that’s sourced locally and piped under the street to individual homes. You might think district heating is, well… a pipe dream. Or, if you’re familiar with the government’s new heat network zoning strategy, that it’s something reserved for large towns and cities. On both counts, think again.

About 800,000 households in England– many of them rural – still rely on oil for heating [Calculated using English Housing Survey 2023-4 and 2021 Census]. It’s messy, expensive, and bad for the environment, pushing out more emissions per unit of heat than even gas. And while homes on gas are protected to some extent by the energy price cap, oil prices are high and volatile, making heating oil users especially vulnerable to fuel poverty. It’s also unreliable, with householders expected to make sure their own fuel supplies remain topped up. 

The government is aiming for heat networks to supply 20 per cent of England’s heat demand by 2050, a significant increase from the current 3 percent, focusing on major towns and cities. Rural communities are not included in this strategy. But thanks to the collaborative efforts of local community groups and councils, supported by energy co-operatives and charities, some rural communities up and down the country are already planning to create heat networks of their own. 

Developing a community heat network can be complex, particularly when it comes to identifying suitable locations, funding and viable business models. The Community Heat Development Unit (CHDU) was an 18-month research and innovation project specifically set up to help communities explore these challenges.

It was specifically set up to help communities develop their own heat networks, using data to identify good locations and viable business models. It’s led by the Sharenergy cooperative, with partners Community Energy England, Marches Energy Advice (retrofit/insulation experts) and Carbon Alternatives (technical heat network design), with funding from the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme. 

Swaffham Prior in East Cambridgeshire shows what a rural community heat network can look like in practice. Swaffham Prior Community Land Trust and Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) have worked together to offer a green heating alternative to oil. Using ground source heat pumps with backup from electric boilers and a nearby solar farm, sustainable thermal energy is now being pumped under the streets into homes, with a commitment to connect nearly all the homes in the village to the scheme.

How are rural communities developing heat networks? 

Swaffham Prior, the UK’s first rural heat network, is the pathfinder for a handful of other rural English communities in Northumberland, Staffordshire and Hertfordshire, which are now actively trying to clear the same feasibility and funding hurdles. The goal is affordable, dependable clean energy, and an end to fuel poverty. 

No one is pretending it’s easy or straightforward. Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire has been pursuing a community wind turbine and heat pump heating network, run by Shropshire & Telford Community Energy, Sharenergy, and Lightfoot Enterprises. After winning planning permission for the 900kW community wind turbine in 2025, building that into a full heat network has proved much harder. The heat network side is currently stalled on funding and pipe costs. 

Haydon Bridge in Northumberland is another pioneer village keen to promote the deployment of rural district heating owned by communities. The project, led by heat network consultancy Reheat, working with the rural community-support charity Community Action Northumberland and the Rural Design Centre, is at feasibility stage. 

Bioregional, who led development of the BedZED eco-village and the One Planet Living sustainability framework, has worked with four local communities across England to explore the feasibility of developing community-led, net-zero-carbon compatible heating networks: Whittington and Fisherwick in Staffordshire; Shenstone in Staffordshire; Brightwell-cum-Sotwell in Oxfordshire, and Grand Union Community at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. 

What does a community heat network need to succeed?

Creating a successful community heat network involves much more than choosing a renewable heat source. Projects need to understand local energy demand, identify suitable sources of heat, develop a financially viable model and, crucially, secure support from the people who will use it.

Work with communities across England has included modelling the energy demand of existing buildings, exploring different local heat sources and developing technically and economically feasible solutions for community-wide heat networks.

Community engagement is equally important. Residents need to understand what a new heating system could mean for them, including potential benefits such as long-term price stability, lower-carbon energy, opportunities for local ownership and potential investment.

In many cases, local Climate Action Networks can provide the civic infrastructure that makes community energy projects possible: trusted local networks that can knock on doors, hold public meetings and build the kind of community buy-in that helped Swaffham Prior get its scheme over the line

Learn from Swaffham Prior

Carbon Copy is hosting a Community-to-Community Workshop where you can learn directly how the team at Swaffham Prior have successfully implemented their own renewable energy heat network. If you’re keen to explore how your community could do the same, then you should sign up for this free online session on October 13!   

Find out more and sign up.