Octopus Energy has teamed with one of the country’s largest housebuilders Bellway Homes to create thousands of low-carbon ‘Zero Bills’ homes across the UK over the coming years.
The long-term partnership is the first stage of a project which aims to guarantee that customers will be able to move into their new green homes with no energy bills to pay for the first five years.
Bellway, which built around 11,000 homes last year, is the first major housing developer to engage with Octopus Energy’s ‘Zero Bills’ proposition, which aims to deliver 50,000 of the homes by 2025.
The homes will be fully kitted out with state-of-the-art green energy technology – including an air-source heat pump, a home battery, and roof-mounted solar panels – which are fully optimised by Octopus Energy’s tech platform, Kraken.
Octopus has already accredited close to 1,000 Zero Bills homes across the UK through partnerships with developers and housing providers, saving households around £1,800 a year on their energy bills (based on current energy rates).
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The partnership comes in advance of the government’s Future Homes Standard, which will come into force in 2025 and requires all new homes to reduce their carbon emissions by 75%.
Belway CEO Jason Honeyman said he was “proud to be the first national housebuilder to partner with Octopus to deliver Zero Bills homes at scale”.
“These homes will be at the cutting edge of sustainable design and will also save our customers thousands of pounds in energy costs as cost-of-living challenges persist across the country.
“This long-term partnership is a key part of our delivery of energy efficient homes as we work towards the Future Homes Standard and it exemplifies our commitment to putting people and the planet first.”
Bellway is already building three of the Zero Bills homes at its Bellway’s Victoria Gate development in Stafford as part of its Future Homes research project, with a further 250 planned for next year and more to follow.
The Future Homes project is also tied to Bellway’s science-based sustainability strategy, which includes a commitment to reduce carbon emissions by designing homes to meet new energy efficiency standards and utilising green technologies.
Octopus Energy zero bills homes director Michael Cottrell said: “Zero Bills is a complete game changer, and having one of the UK’s largest housebuilders on board to develop their first Zero Bills homes is a momentous occasion for sustainable living.
“With Bellway committing to this revolutionary scheme, we can provide even more homeowners with zero energy bills for five years, guaranteed. It means we can make green living the standard, not the exception.”
