LPG and Heating Oil Suppliers: Contracts, Tanks and Deliveries

Around two million UK properties have no mains gas pipe and depend on alternative fuels for heating and cooking¹. For most of them the choice is between heating oil, delivered by tanker into a tank you own, and LPG, a gas delivered by road into a tank that is usually owned by the company that sells you the fuel². That single difference, tank ownership, shapes everything else about the market: the contracts, the switching rules, the rental charges and the complaint routes.

LPG averaged 57 pence per litre in July 2025, and a litre converts to 7.1 kWh of energy². Annual heating costs for a bulk LPG household in a three-bed semi-detached house were estimated at £1,800 to £2,200 in March 2026⁴. None of this sits under the energy price cap, because the cap applies to licensed gas and electricity suppliers, not to road-delivered fuels⁵.

Understanding LPG and its origins

LPG stands for Liquefied Petroleum Gas⁷. It is not a fuel extracted in its own right: it is a by-product of two large energy industries, the processing of natural gas liquids and the refining of crude oil⁷. That origin matters for a household thinking about security of supply, because LPG arrives as a side-stream of other production rather than from dedicated wells, and it reaches your home the same way, by road, stored in a tank, rather than being piped directly into the house as mains gas is².

Two forms of the gas are generally available in the UK: commercial butane and commercial propane⁸. Propane is the one used for domestic bulk heating, because it vaporises at the outdoor temperatures a garden tank experiences through a British winter. Scottish building standards guidance covers installations where LPG is stored under pressure at ambient temperatures in fixed vessels, and requires tanks and their connecting pipework to be designed, constructed and installed in accordance with UKLPG Code of Practice 1, Bulk LPG Storage at Fixed Installations⁸.

On carbon, LPG sits below the other conventional off-grid fuels. Industry guidance describes it as the lowest carbon conventional fuel available to off-grid homes, emitting 33% less CO2 than coal⁶, and 12% less than oil¹. Energy Saving Trust data puts the carbon factor for LPG in England, Scotland and Wales at 0.240 kgCO2e per kWh⁹. The gas is also not odourless, which makes leaks easier to detect⁶.

The industry is represented by Liquid Gas UK, the trade association for the LPG and bioLPG industry in the UK¹⁰. Its members supply the bulk tanks, cylinders and equipment that off-grid households rely on, and its codes of practice govern how those are sited and maintained¹¹.

Is LPG right for homes off the gas grid?

LPG suits households beyond the gas network, and only them. Off-gas-grid households use a range of other fuels to heat their homes, including heating oil, LPG, solid fuels, mains electricity and microgeneration¹². The number involved is substantial: some two million properties are off-grid and depend on alternative fuel sources for heating and cooking¹.

What off-grid households cannot easily do is change fuel. Parliament's research on off-grid consumers notes there is limited opportunity for such consumers to switch fuel source¹². A household with an LPG boiler can switch LPG supplier, but moving to oil, electric heating or a heat pump means replacing the heating system itself, not just the bill. That is the structural difference from the mains market, where switching is a paperwork exercise.

The protections differ too. Licensed gas and electricity suppliers operate under a supplier of last resort regime, so if your supplier fails your supply continues under a new one; that arrangement applies to gas and electricity suppliers to residential users in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland¹³. LPG supply sits outside that regime entirely. In its place, the Liquid Gas UK Ombudsman Scheme covers customers of member companies who purchase domestic bulk LPG, LPG cylinders, autogas and LPG equipment¹¹. So the complaint route exists, but it runs through the trade body's scheme rather than the statutory energy ombudsman that mains customers use.

On the supply side, the market includes long-established specialists. Flogas states it has been supplying LPG to customers across the UK for over 35 years, and describes 40 years supplying Britain's off-grid homes¹⁴. Its cylinder business runs through hundreds of stockists nationwide¹⁴. Other suppliers in this market include Calor, Certas Energy and AvantiGas, each covered in their own company pages.

Choosing between cylinders, bulk tanks and metered supply

LPG reaches a home in one of two main ways: in cylinders, exchanged or delivered as needed, or in bulk, pumped by tanker into a fixed tank on the property. OFTEC's consumer guide to liquid fuel heating covers appliances up to 70kW output and tanks not greater than 3,500 litres in capacity, serving domestic properties¹⁵, which gives a sense of the scale involved at the domestic end of the bulk market.

Cylinders suit low, intermittent demand: a hob, a fire, a small heater. Flogas supplies four 47kg gas bottles housed in a storage unit, with automatic changeover valves for home heating use, and its national stockists supply bottles as and when needed¹⁴. The changeover valve switches to a full bottle automatically when one empties, which is the cylinder answer to the problem of running out.

A bulk tank suits a household using LPG as its main heating fuel. The tank sits in the garden, above or below ground, and a tanker tops it up on a delivery round. Which? notes that you might need to buy or rent your LPG tank from your supplier, which adds to the cost². The tank is filled in litres, priced per litre, and the household watches a percentage gauge rather than a meter.

The choice between the two is driven by annual demand. A household heating the whole home with LPG will go through cylinders too quickly for the exchange system to be practical, and will want bulk supply. A household using gas only for cooking can live with cylinders for years. It is also worth remembering that whichever route is chosen, it is your responsibility to maintain the fuel storage tank on your property¹⁵, even where the tank itself belongs to the supplier.

Tank ownership, rental and the supply contract

This is the part of the LPG market that most surprises households arriving from mains gas: the tank is usually owned by the company that supplies the gas³. Unlike liquid fuel tanks, which belong to the householder, the LPG tank belongs to the supplier, which can make a new installation cheaper, but means an ongoing annual rental charge will apply¹⁶.

The contract reflects that ownership. Under the Liquid Gas UK customer charter, the terms of the supply contract include confirmation of tank ownership and that only the tank owner may supply gas to that tank¹¹. That clause is the heart of the exclusive supply arrangement: while the tank belongs to Supplier A, Supplier B cannot fill it, whatever price Supplier B is offering.

The consequence is that homeowners are usually tied into long contracts, which limits your options when it comes to finding a better deal¹⁶. Consumer guidance is blunt about the overall position: the biggest disadvantage of LPG is that it is one of the most expensive heating fuels, and homeowners are usually tied into long contracts¹⁶.

Switching is possible, but the mechanics follow from the ownership rule. All bulk domestic LPG customers whose gas is supplied via a bulk tank are able to switch their LPG supplier along with ownership of their tank once no longer bound by any exclusivity period in a supply contract¹¹. Which? sets out the practical position: if you switch supplier, you'll need to transfer ownership of your tank to the new supplier or get a new tank installed². Your supplier should tell you a month before your contract finishes².

Tank transfer between suppliers was identified as the appropriate remedy for the ownership problem in a review of the market, and it is now the standard route for switching¹⁷. Households that would rather not depend on a supplier's tank can buy their own, but ownership brings obligations: the legislative framework includes the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations¹⁷, and the tank must be tested by a competent person, with the owner, usually the LPG supplier, holding the written scheme that governs those tests¹⁸.

LPG prices per litre, yearly costs and the price cap exemption

LPG is priced per litre, like petrol, and the price moves with the market. In July 2025 it cost an average 57 pence per litre, according to Sutherland Tables, which collects domestic fuel pricing data². A litre of LPG converts to 7.1 kWh², so the July 2025 average works out at roughly 8 pence per kWh before standing charges and delivery costs.

The annual picture is less encouraging. Parliament's research briefing of March 2026 puts the annual heating cost for LPG, bulk propane, in a three-bed semi-detached house at £1,800 to £2,200 across Great Britain regions⁴. Energy Saving Trust's data gives an average price for England, Scotland and Wales of 9.1 pence per kWh, with a standing charge of £67 per year; in Northern Ireland the standing charge is £63 per year⁹.

For comparison, mains gas households buy under the energy price cap. For the period 1 July to 30 September 2026, the cap's benchmark maximum for gas in London on standard credit was a £127.52 standing charge and an £842.13 annual bill at 9,500 kWh; on prepayment in London it was £102.62 and £760.20⁵. A mains gas household and an LPG household with similar heating demand can therefore face bills of very different sizes, and the LPG household has no cap to protect it.

Against heating oil, the comparison is awkward because the figures come from different dates, but the direction is clear. In mid-June 2026 the UK heating oil figure was 76.6 pence per litre, cheaper than anywhere in the EU, where the cheapest was Malta at 86.9 pence per litre¹⁹. Set that against LPG at 57 pence per litre in July 2025² and the two are not directly comparable month to month, but consumer guidance does not present LPG as the cheap option: it is one of the most expensive heating fuels¹⁶.

Why no cap? The price cap is a licence condition on regulated gas and electricity suppliers. LPG is delivered by road and stored in a tank rather than piped into your home², so the supplier holds no energy licence and no cap applies. The household's protection is the contract, and the competition that exists at renewal.

Fuel deliveries, telemetry systems and the risk of running dry

Because LPG arrives by road tanker, the household's supply security rests on the delivery round rather than on a pipe. The tank has a gauge showing the fill level as a percentage, and deliveries are triggered either by the householder ordering or by the supplier's monitoring of the tank's level. Which? describes the basic arrangement: LPG is delivered by road and stored in a tank², and the practical discipline for the household is ordering in time.

Running out is a real risk with real consequences. There is no supplier of last resort for LPG: that arrangement applies to gas and electricity suppliers to residential users in the UK, excluding Northern Ireland¹³, and LPG suppliers are not part of it. If a delivery does not arrive, the heating stops when the tank empties, and the complaint runs first to the supplier and then, for member companies, to the Liquid Gas UK Ombudsman Scheme¹¹.

The wider energy market's recent history explains why supply failure is worth planning for. The high gas price rise forced several energy suppliers out of the market²⁰, and during the government's bill support scheme, suppliers including EDF, Scottish Power, Energy Plus Supply Limited, Good Energy and Utilita were reported as falling short in making sure support reached their prepayment customers²¹. Those events happened in the licensed market, with statutory backstops. An LPG household has no equivalent backstop, so a delivery failure lands on the household directly.

There is a national security dimension to the gas that LPG sits alongside. The UK's gas system can draw on imports, including 150mcm/d from LNG²², and LPG itself is a by-product of natural gas liquids processing and crude oil refining⁷, so the household's fuel price is exposed to the same global markets as everyone else's, without a cap in between.

Storing, handling and dealing with LPG leaks safely

LPG is stored under pressure as a liquid, and the safety rules reflect that. The gas is not odourless, making it easier to detect leaks⁶, which is a deliberate property: an odourant is added so that a leak announces itself. Even so, the storage installation is governed by codes and regulations rather than by the householder's nose.

All Liquid Gas UK members sign up to abide by the Liquid Gas UK Codes of Practice and other guidance as published from time to time, including safe siting of LPG storage vessels¹¹. In Scotland, building standards require tanks and associated pipework to be designed, constructed and installed in accordance with UKLPG Code of Practice 1⁸. In Wales and England, Approved Document J covers LPG storage installations with capacities up to 1.1 tonne²³, and its Requirement J6 states the fire safety rule in terms any householder can grasp:

The separation distances that follow from that requirement are what determine where a tank can go in a garden, and they are the reason a tank cannot simply be tucked against a wall.

Maintenance obligations sit with ownership. Tanks need to be tested by a competent person to meet obligations under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations¹⁸, and the owner, usually the LPG supplier, holds the written scheme¹⁸. Households that own their own tank carry the legal framework themselves, which includes the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations¹⁷. One point matters for any household weighing ownership: appropriate formal emergency cover must be provided by the LPG supplier and is not available via the Emergency Services¹⁷.

Work on the gas side must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. An installer's listing will state this plainly, as one does: "We are gas safe registered"²⁴, alongside handling of gas emergencies²⁴. In the licensed market, suppliers must provide free gas safety checks to eligible customers²⁵; an LPG household's equivalent protections come from its contract and the supplier's own obligations, so it is worth checking what the contract says about safety visits before signing.

Tank installation and when you need planning consent

In England, the position is favourable. Installing a fuel tank is considered permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to limits and conditions, and the permitted development regime includes liquid petroleum gas tanks as well as oil storage tanks²⁶. The conditions cover matters such as size and siting, and if they cannot be met, a planning application is needed.

Building regulations apply regardless of planning permission. In Wales, the quick guide to the building regulations sets out a concession for oil tank installations: if you employ an installer registered with OFTEC, you will not need to involve a Building Control Service for the tank and connecting pipework²⁷. The same logic of registered installers applies to the wider heating market, where support is also available for installers and manufacturers to expand supply chains²⁸, and where a heat pump installation within the curtilage of a house or block of flats does not require planning permission, though listed building consent may be required if the property is listed²⁹.

Siting is not only a planning question but a safety one, since the fire separation requirement in Approved Document J applies to fixed LPG storage installations with capacities greater than 150 litres located outside the building²³. Households with aesthetic concerns have an option: tanks can be buried below ground to improve the aesthetics of a building¹, though the same codes and testing obligations apply underground.

On longevity, the comparison with oil is worth having at installation stage. Industry guidance also states that the cost of LPG installation, compared with electric, oil and air source heat pumps, is significantly cheaper¹, though installation cost is only part of the lifetime picture given the fuel prices set out above.

BioLPG: a renewable fuel you can switch to directly

BioLPG exists as a product in the UK market, and the industry body that represents conventional LPG also represents it: Liquid Gas UK is the trade association representing the LPG and bioLPG industry in the UK¹⁰. BioLPG is chemically similar to conventional LPG, which is what the drop-in label means: it can be used in the same tanks, boilers and appliances without conversion.

For a household, the significance is that the off-grid gas route is not frozen in time. A home on LPG today is a home that can take bioLPG as it becomes available, without replacing the heating system, which is more than can be said for a move between fuel types. The carbon case for the fuel family as a whole rests on the figures already given: LPG is the lowest carbon conventional fuel available to off-grid homes, emitting 33% less CO2 than coal⁶ and 12% less than oil¹, with carbon emissions slightly lower than oil³.

No settled price or availability picture for bioLPG against conventional LPG has been published, so a household weighing the two should ask suppliers directly what they supply, at what price, and on what contract terms. The same ownership and switching rules apply: the tank, the exclusivity period and the transfer process are the same whether the gas in the tank is fossil-derived or renewable.