What heating costs in London this winter, and who the price cap leaves out

The heating season has started and the bills have already gone up. Here is what they are made of this winter — and why for some Londoners the price cap does not apply at all.

The rates for this winter

From 1 October to 31 December 2026 the price cap is set at £1,723 a year for a typical household paying by Direct Debit in England, Scotland and Wales. That is 4% higher than the previous period.

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The rates themselves: gas at 7.97p per kWh plus a 29.68p daily standing charge. Electricity at 26.32p per kWh plus 54.83p a day.

One important caveat: from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 there is no VAT on electricity. Gas still carries 5% VAT. Because of that, these figures cannot be compared directly with earlier periods.

For comparison, gas was 7.33p per kWh over the summer — nearly 9% cheaper. The electricity standing charge, by contrast, has fallen: it was 57.19p and is now 54.83p.

Working out what the heating itself costs

Since 1 July 2026 Ofgem treats typical consumption as 9,500 kWh of gas and 2,500 of electricity a year. The old values were higher — 11,500 and 2,700: people are using less.

Multiply it out. Gas: 9,500 × 7.97p = £757, plus the standing charge of 365 × 29.68p = £108. That is about £865 a year for gas — the price of heating and hot water for a typical home.

Electricity on the same basis comes to about £858. Together, £1,723 — exactly the headline cap. The arithmetic checks out, and now you can see what it is made of.

The standing charges deserve a look on their own. Gas and electricity together come to 84.51p a day, or £308 a year, charged before you switch anything on. An empty flat still runs up that amount.

And remember: the cap limits the price per unit, not the size of the bill. The colder the house and the longer the boiler runs, the more you pay.

Why your own rate may differ

These figures are averages. Your actual unit rate, and the standing charge especially, depend on your region, how you pay (Direct Debit, standard credit or prepayment), the fuel and the meter type. Ofgem calculates them from the region's population, its average energy use and the cost of maintaining the network.

The exact rates for your address can be looked up by postcode on Ofgem's site.

Who the cap does not protect at all

This is the key point for London. The price cap does not cover anyone on a fixed tariff, on a business energy contract, getting their heat from a heat network, or using heating oil.

A heat network is where several buildings are heated from one central source, with hot water and heating arriving through pipes. In newer London developments it is a common arrangement. Across Great Britain more than 500,000 customers are on heat networks.

Until recently the industry was entirely unregulated, and some customers saw price rises of up to 450% after gas prices spiked.

What has changed for heat networks

Since 26 January 2026 Ofgem has been the regulator for heat networks, with powers to act if an operator raises prices unfairly or delivers poor service.

What residents now have: clear, itemised billing instead of an unexplained monthly charge; a heat supply agreement with proper terms and advance notice of changes; standards of conduct on how customers are treated; a priority services register so elderly customers and those with health conditions are reconnected first; protection for vulnerable customers from the forced installation of prepayment meters; and compensation through the Energy Ombudsman for service outages.

If you are on a heat network with an unresolved problem, the Ombudsman is the route — the minister said so directly.

What to check now

Look at your bill for the standing charge and the unit rate, and compare them with the figures above. If you pay on receipt of the bill rather than by Direct Debit, your rates will be higher, which is worth doing the sums on. And find out whether your building is on a heat network: that decides whether the cap protects you at all.