Nesta, a research and innovation foundation, published a project update on 7 November 2025 describing a prototype tool intended to support local planning and delivery of low-carbon heating1. The tool is being developed alongside the organisation's work in Plymouth, with the stated aim of being replicated in other local areas across Great Britain1.
The tool is designed to support local areas in "identifying which type of low-carbon heating is most suitable for groups of properties at neighbourhood level" and in "identifying areas which may need to focus resources to help deliver for households"1. Nesta said the work is at prototype stage and that the methodology and approach will likely change as development continues1. Data underlying the work will be sourced from openly available datasets including Ordnance Survey, the energy performance certificates register and government public datasets1.
Properties will initially be grouped into one of four main categories of low-carbon heating technology1:
| Category | Technologies listed |
|---|---|
| Individual heat source | Air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, air to air heat pumps and modern storage heaters |
| District heat network technologies | Networks powered by waste heat sources and industrial or large-scale heat pumps |
| Networked ground source heat pumps | Also referred to as shared ground loops |
| Communal solutions | Communal air source heat pumps, communal heat networks and networked ground source heat pumps |
Where it exists, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's heat network zoning will be used to identify groups of properties suitable for heat networks1. Properties will be grouped into clusters that vary in size, which Nesta said might originally result in very small clusters, "even clusters of a single property", before being merged into larger groups1. Contextual information will then be layered on top, which Nesta said will help a local authority consider whether certain properties, potentially those that would otherwise be left behind, would benefit from local authority grants or other support to decarbonise1.
The update describes anchor load properties as large properties that provide a reliable high demand for heat, making heat networks more economically viable, and lists schools, universities, hospitals and major retail stores among them1.
"Currently, this tool is being prototyped"
Why it matters for households
The tool does not change any household's heating system, grant entitlement or bill. Its relevance lies in how local authorities may in future decide where to direct resources and which technologies to plan for street by street. Nesta states that the UK's current approach to low-carbon heating relies primarily on individual household decisions supported by government incentives, and that its team is working on approaches covering multiple households in the same geographic area1. For a household, the practical consequence is that the technology considered suitable for a home may increasingly be assessed as part of a group of neighbouring properties rather than in isolation. Nesta also states that contextual data will help a local authority consider whether certain properties, potentially those that would otherwise be left behind, would benefit from local authority grants or other support to decarbonise1. The categorisation draws on the energy performance certificates register among other datasets1, which connects the work to the wider EPC Regulations and the Reform of Energy Performance Certificates agenda, while heat network zoning sits with DESNZ, the government department behind home energy policy. No detail has been reported on how households would be consulted about, or notified of, any grouping that applies to their home.
What happens next
Nesta said that in the following months it will build the tool and develop a methodology driven by user needs, working closely with local authorities to categorise groups of properties by technology and to contextualise those groups with additional information1. It said it is keen to work closely with local governments across Great Britain to test the methodology and assumptions about the value, feasibility and replicability of the work, and invited those working in strategic, mayoral or local authority roles to make contact1. No dates beyond the coming months have been reported for the tool's completion or wider rollout.
Sources1 cited
- A tool to support local clean heat planning | Nesta, nesta.org.uk