Heating Oil Regulation: Government Accepts CMA's Call

Anyone running an oil-fired AGA, Rayburn or Esse buys from a market with no regulator of its own and only an industry code of practice. On 13 October the government said that will change, though it has not said when. We also have a landlord prosecution that is a reminder of what an annual gas safety check covers, and new figures on how many quartz worktop workshops are cutting corners on dust.

Heating oil to be regulated for the first time

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said on 13 October 2026 that it accepts the Competition and Markets Authority’s recommendation to strengthen regulation of the heating oil market, and will work with industry to “develop a regulatory regime for the heating oil market, protecting consumers and promoting competition.” Heating oil, unlike gas and electricity, has never been licensed or covered by the energy price cap.

The trigger was this year’s price spike. In its response to the CMA’s market study, the government says heating oil was around 55p a litre in February 2026, rose to 104p a litre in March and, at the time of publication, was rising again. The CMA found that 1,700 households were owed compensation after suppliers cancelled their orders and made them re-order at higher prices. The CMA concluded the market is generally competitive and that the price rise largely reflected wholesale costs rather than excess profits, but found weaker protections than gas and electricity customers get on quotes, cancellations, help for vulnerable households and independent dispute resolution. The response says around 1.5 million UK households rely on heating oil.

What happens now: the industry codes of conduct will be strengthened in the short term, and the practice of some suppliers setting a 500 litre minimum order will be reviewed. There is no date for the new regime and no proposal to bring heating oil under the price cap; the BBC noted on 13 October that the government gave no timetable for the stricter rules. The government is also pointing oil households at the time-limited £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for replacing oil or LPG heating with a heat pump in England and Wales.

For a range cooker owner, the practical points this winter are the same as before: get at least three quotes, ask how the quoted price is held and what happens if the supplier cancels, and get the terms in writing. If an oil range is on the table for a new kitchen, run today’s prices through our range cooker running cost calculator, and compare quotes with our page on heating oil prices per litre. Our guide to LPG and oil range cookers covers the off-grid alternatives. Sources: DESNZ announcement, government response to the CMA heating oil market study and BBC News.

Landlord fined after eight years without a gas safety check

The Health and Safety Executive said on 12 October 2026 that Adam Evans, the landlord of a house in New Ferry on the Wirral, had been sentenced for failing to have annual gas safety checks carried out for eight years. A mother and her five children lived in the property. HSE began investigating in October 2024 after a concern from Wirral Borough Council; Mr Evans could only produce a certificate dated November 2024, done after the concern was raised. He pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs at Wirral Magistrates’ Court.

Why it matters to a cook: the case was about a boiler, but the landlord’s annual check covers every gas appliance and flue the landlord provides, including a gas hob or range cooker. If you rent and cook on gas, ask to see the current gas safety record; your landlord has to give you a copy. Our page on the landlord gas safety check for cookers explains what the engineer should look at. Source: HSE.

HSE issued enforcement notices to 166 of 434 quartz worktop workshops

The i Paper reported on 14 October that a five-month campaign of unannounced Health and Safety Executive visits to workshops making engineered stone (quartz) kitchen worktops found widespread breaches of the rules that protect workers from silica dust. Of the 434 businesses inspected, 166, or 38%, were served with legally binding enforcement notices. Breathing in fine silica dust from cutting and polishing the slabs causes silicosis, an incurable lung disease. The risk is to the people who make the worktops, not to the people who cook on them.

Why it matters to a buyer: the UK already requires water suppression when engineered stone is cut, and we covered the argument over an outright ban on 1 October. These figures suggest more than a third of the workshops visited were not meeting the rules. If quartz is on your kitchen plan, ask your kitchen company who fabricates the worktop and whether they wet-cut, or consider timber, granite or solid surface instead; the kitchen worktop calculator will price the area whichever you choose. Source: The i Paper.