If your landlord, freeholder or managing agent charges you for energy for use in your flat or communal areas, they may get support from the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS).
The EBDS applies to energy usage between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. This scheme replaces the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) which covered energy usage between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.
If your landlord or managing agent has received assistance through a support scheme, they must pass on some or all of this support to you in a ‘just and reasonable way’. This is called the “pass-through requirement”.
If you do not agree with the support your heat network supplier passes to you, write to your supplier. Download a template letter. If you still disagree, you can make a complaint to The Energy Ombudsman. More information on actions you can take if your heat supplier does not comply with the requirements.
Heat networks distribute heat or cooling from a central source or sources and deliver it to a variety of different customers such as public buildings, shops, offices, hospitals, universities and homes. They can supply communal heating to a single building, such as a block of flats, and also supply multiple buildings, avoiding the need for them to have individual boilers or electric heaters.
If you get your heating and hot water from a heat network, the body supplying that energy – the heat supplier – may get support from the EBDS. They must then pass on some or all of this support to you in a ‘just and reasonable way.’
As heat suppliers purchase energy via non-domestic energy supplies, their domestic customers cannot benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee. The purpose of the EBDS heat network support is to ensure that domestic customers on heat networks do not face disproportionately higher bills.
Heat suppliers need to apply for the specific heat network support through a digital application portal. You should not need to do anything to get this support. Your supplier must tell you in writing within 30 days of them getting the support:
- how much benefit they received
- when and how they will pass this to you
- what you can do if you disagree
More information you might find useful:
- Energy Bills Discount Scheme
- Pass-through requirements for energy price support provided to intermediaries
- Energy Bills Discount Scheme heat network supplier guidance
