Green energy specialists Octopus Energy and modular housebuilder ilke Homes have joined forces to roll out what they say will be the UK’s first homes to guarantee zero energy bills for residents.

The two firms are launching the partnership at a site in Essex where ilke Homes is delivering the UK’s largest zero-carbon housing development.

The news comes as households across the UK are facing increasing financial pressure from rising energy prices, with the energy price cap set to rise to £2,800 in October. 

The homes will come equipped with air source heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage and will look to save households more than £2,000 on energy costs per year.

As part of the launch, two factory-built homes are initially being installed at Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. They will come equipped with low-carbon technologies which will combine to provide free, clean energy round the clock, with Octopus Energy providing a bespoke tariff.

The two-bedroom semi-detached family homes form part of a wider 153-home scheme, branded Hope Green. In total 101 of these homes will be zero-carbon.

The homes have been launched as part of ilke ZERO which aims to deliver 10,000 zero bills homes by 2030. 

Launched in July 2021, ilke ZERO has already trialled homes in London, Newcastle, Gateshead, Newark and Sunderland and are now ready to be rolled out en masse.

Giles Carter, CEO at ilke Homes, said: “Our strategic partnership with Octopus Energy Group is the next milestone on our ilke ZERO journey. The premise of this partnership is to both empower consumers, who are faced with one of the worst cost-of-living crises in decades and demonstrate that net-zero and construction can work hand in hand.”

Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy Group, added: “This breakthrough partnership debunks a long-standing myth – that cleaner energy will mean higher bills for consumers. Instead, people living in these homes won’t be paying for energy at all. This is yet another demonstration that clean energy is cheap energy, and the best answer to the fossil fuel crisis is accelerating the transition to renewables.”

The first two zero bills homes, which will be made available for shared ownership, have been precision-engineered along production lines at ilke Homes’ factory in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.