In a move that it says will “transform the housing market”, utility Octopus Energy will work with housing construction companies to target 100,000 ‘Zero Bills’ homes by 2030.
The Zero Bills smart tariff, launched in 2022, means Octopus customers with low carbon devices, optimised by Octopus technologies, do not have to pay for energy. The houses are fitted with heat pumps, batteries and solar panels; the utility promises zero energy bills for at least five years because the homes generate more energy than they consume.
Vistry Group, purportedly the UK’s largest housebuilder, is piloting the delivery of Zero Bills homes across several developments, and Octopus is also already partnered with over 50 other housebuilders.
National housebuilder Bellway has committed to delivering a 130-plot site in Bedfordshire, which will be the UK’s biggest Zero Bills development to date. Regional businesses are also getting involved, with Verto and GS8 committing to 100% of their future homes to be Zero Bills.
Zero Bills homes are also available for rent and shared ownership through partnerships with housing associations Platform, Clarion and SNG, alongside private rental providers Citra and Packaged Living.
Octopus has also said it will retrofit homes to make them eligible for the Zero Bills tariff, suggesting 500,000 UK properties (built since 2013) could be upgraded.
The Future Homes Standard
The announcement that Octopus will roll out its Zero Bills homes at scale comes ahead of the utility showcasing one at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. The show home was constructed in just three days.
Labour’s commitment to building new homes was laid out in its manifesto ahead of the election, with the new government promising to simplify the planning process (a move that has also benefitted the solar industry, in particular) to accelerate build-out.
With it all but confirmed that the Future Homes Standard will mandate that all newly built properties in the UK be fitted with low carbon technologies and energy secretary Ed Miliband promising to unleash a ‘rooftop solar revolution’, Octopus has demonstrated how cleaner energy does cut household bills—another major platform that Labour ran on.
In the long term, the nation’s transition to renewable energy sources is pegged to reduce costs, but without a major overhaul the government will not deliver on its energy promises.
One example of how the government might shift energy costs down was provided by a consortium of battery storage developers in a letter addressed to what will soon be the publicly-owned National Electricity System Operator. The group outlined that energy storage technology is too often ‘skipped’ in favour of processes that come at a greater cost to the consumer.
