Nesta published a report, Clean heat: coordinating the switch street by street, setting out a delivery model for moving homes to low-carbon heating through area-wide coordination rather than household-by-household decisions1. The report page carries a date of 27 June 2024, while the project itself is listed as beginning on 19 February 20241.
The proposal rests on two new organisations. A National Heat Transition Unit would focus on decarbonising heat, with targets for homes switched to low-carbon sources, and would "support, resource and provide guarantees to local heat bodies"1. Nesta suggests it "could be a team within a department such as Energy Security and Net Zero and could be created by expanding on the Heat Network Delivery Unit"1. Below it, local heat bodies would produce plans at a local level, identify the right technology for the right areas, procure delivery organisations and involve citizens throughout1. These would sit at combined authority level, or where combined authorities do not exist, groups of local authorities collaborating at a similar scale1.
The report frames the approach as voluntary in most cases. Nesta writes:
"We see this approach as likely to be voluntary in most cases - it will allow households to sign up rather than compelling them to do so, which means it must develop attractive offers."
It also raises a mandate to connect to communal infrastructure for new builds, large consumers and building owners, in line with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's heat network zoning proposals, adding: "We do not expect this would apply to existing individual homes"1. On reporting, local heat bodies would report simplified metrics annually and more detailed reports every five years, with extra detail in the first two years to identify outliers for case studies1. The report names England, Scotland and Wales as the nations in scope1.
Nesta's recommendations include developing local heat bodies in as many areas as possible, piloting communal shared-infrastructure schemes, piloting a coordinated approach to individual home upgrades, and piloting data gathering and feedback loops1. On the individual-upgrade pilots, it says these "should focus on how groups of homes could benefit from switching to individual low-carbon heat sources (i.e. air source heat pumps)"1. Government funding is proposed for pilots in "some of the more advanced local areas, most likely to be city regions", varying by technology, property and tenure type1.
The report references the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in describing how "the engineer receives the £7,500 grant money from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme"1. It does not set out costs for households under a coordinated approach, and no funding commitment from government to the proposed pilots has been reported1.
Why it matters for households
The UK's current route to low-carbon heating is individual-led, with each household deciding separately1. A coordinated model would group installations by street or area, which changes the practical questions a household faces: who plans the work, who procures the installer, and what offer is made. Nesta states the approach would need attractive offers to secure participation, since it expects sign-up rather than compulsion for existing homes1. For a home's energy independence, the report's focus is on the heat source itself, with heat pumps named as the individual low-carbon technology for the proposed pilots1. The report does not address how a coordinated switch would interact with hybrid heat pump and gas boiler setups, nor with air-to-air heat pumps, and it gives no figures on heat pump costs with a Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant1.
What happens next
The report recommends government-funded pilots in advanced local areas, most likely city regions, covering both communal shared-infrastructure schemes and coordinated individual home upgrades1. It also recommends piloting data gathering and feedback loops alongside those pilots, and examining the role of a national heat transition unit to ensure it supports delivery partners and local government1. No dates for these pilots, and no government response, have been reported1.