Octopus Energy has formed a long-term partnership with Bellway Homes, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, with a view to delivering thousands of energy-bill-free properties across the UK over the coming years.
The partnership announced this week aims to build new homes that are fully kitted out with the latest green energy technologies – such as air source heat pumps, home battery storage units, and roof-mounted solar panels – which can then be optimised and managed by Octopus Energy’s Kraken tech platform.
The move forms part of Octopus Energy’s ‘Zero Bills’ proposition, through which it is aiming to deliver 50,000 homes by 2025 backed by a guarantee that householders would not have to pay any energy bills at all for at least the first five years after moving in.
Compared to a standard variable tariff, based on the current Ofgem price cap, ‘Zero Bill’ households would save around £1,800 a year.
Octopus Energy has already accredited almost 1,000 Zero Bill homes in the UK through contracts with developers and housing providers, but Bellway Homes is the first volume housebuilder to join the initiative.
Bellway, which last year built around 11,000 homes across the UK, is currently developing three Zero Bills homes at its Victoria Gate development in Stafford that are expected to go onto the market in December.
Then, from next year, a further 250 Zero Bills homes are planned at one of Bellway’s developments in Bedfordshire, with “the potential for more sites to follow soon”, Octopus Energy said.
Michael Cottrell, Zero Bills homes director at Octopus Energy, hailed the energy-bill-free homes proposition as “a complete game changer” for the house building market.
“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,” he added. “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
It comes ahead of the government’s Future Homes Standard, which is slated to come into force from 2025, requiring all new homes built in the UK to come with significantly reduced carbon emissions, effectively ruling out any new homes being built with fossil gas boilers for heating.
Bellway Homes is itself aiming to slash its carbon emissions following the recent-adoption of Science Based Targets, as well as plans to design homes with higher energy efficiency standards and a range of green technologies.
“We are proud to be the first national housebuilder to partner with Octopus to deliver Zero Bills homes at scale,” said Jason Honeyman, CEO of Bellway. “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.”
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