This page covers German rental law and may not apply to you.
Heating cost split (Heat Network Regulations 2014 § 7). The German Heat Network Regulations 2014 mandates that 50–70% of heating costs are billed by individual consumption and 30–50% by floor area. It applies only to buildings with central heating in Germany.
In your country, the equivalent regulation is Heat Network Regulations 2014 — Heat metering for heat networks; bills based on actual consumption where possible.
Rentprime is also available for United Kingdom with localised templates and billing logic. The relevant local regulations are pre-configured — you don’t need this German-specific topic.
Heat metering and billing,compliant by default.
For buildings on a heat network, the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 (as amended in 2020) require notification to OPSS, individual metering where cost-effective, and consumption-based bills. Rentprime generates compliant bills and the annual notification.
Heat metering and billing under UK law — what landlords on heat networks must do
The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014, amended in 2020 and again in 2025 under the Energy Act 2023, govern how operators of communal heating and district heating systems meter and bill end-users. Unlike the German HKVO, the UK regulations do not mandate a fixed percentage split between consumption and area — instead, the duty is to bill based on actual consumption where individual metering or heat cost allocators are cost-effective and technically feasible.
Notification to OPSS: if you operate a heat network (any system supplying heat to more than one final customer), you must notify the Office for Product Safety and Standards. The notification is renewed every four years and is the mechanism by which OPSS tracks coverage. Rentprime tracks your notification cycle and warns 90 days before the next deadline.
Cost-effectiveness assessment: the regulations require an open EU-Cost-Effectiveness Tool (or equivalent) assessment to decide whether retro-fitting heat meters or heat cost allocators is justified. If the assessment shows meters are cost-effective, you must install them. The assessment must be redone every four years or when the building is materially changed.
Billing rules: where meters or HCAs are installed, bills must be based on actual consumption at least once a year (twice if the customer has opted into electronic bills, four times if they have a smart meter). Bills must show consumption in absolute terms, prior-period and prior-year comparisons, and a clear unit rate. Rentprime's heat-network template produces fully compliant bills automatically.
The Heat Trust scheme: a voluntary consumer-protection scheme that OFGEM treats as the de-facto benchmark. Heat Trust members commit to billing accuracy, complaint-handling timelines and vulnerability protections that exceed the bare 2014 Regulations. Many local authorities now require Heat Trust membership in their leases — Rentprime's compliance pack maps directly to Heat Trust requirements.
MEES — the floor for all rentals: the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 prohibit letting a property with an EPC rating below E, with limited exemptions. From 2030 the floor is expected to rise to EPC C. Rentprime tracks EPC expiry dates and flags properties approaching the C threshold so you can plan retrofit budgets.