A Zero Bills home is exactly what it sounds like, and that is precisely why landlords keep asking whether there is a catch. Here is how the model works, who stands behind it, and why it changes the letting conversation.
Four things stack together. The home is built to barely need energy: EPC A fabric, Passivhaus standard airtightness, high grade insulation and heat pump heating. It then makes its own: an integrated solar roof generates through the day and a Tesla Powerwall battery stores it for the evening. Octopus Energy's Kraken platform runs the whole system automatically, charging the battery when energy is cheap and exporting surplus clean power when the grid needs it most. That export value is the commercial engine: it is how Octopus can guarantee the resident pays nothing for home energy for at least 10 years, subject to a generous fair use allowance of around twice a typical home's usage, with EV charging billed separately.
The scale says otherwise. Octopus has accredited over 6,000 Zero Bills homes on its way to a target of 100,000 by 2030, with certified developments from Hill, Thakeham and Verto already delivered and Barratt Redrow estates starting in 2026. The largest site in the world is Georgian Square in Wisbech: around 300 freehold family houses, unveiled by Octopus and Prosperity in April 2026. In the first Zero Bills pilot, homes achieved 10.7% higher valuations and sold faster.
The typical UK household energy bill under the Ofgem price cap is £1,663 a year from July 2026, about £139 a month, and it moves: the cap rose 13% in a single quarter this year. A tenant offered a home where that line item is guaranteed at zero for a decade is being offered certainty no ordinary rental can match, which is why "bills included" has become the second most searched rental filter on Rightmove.
Three practical effects. Homes with a genuine zero bills badge stand out in any listings page, which shortens voids. Tenants with no bill shock have one less reason to fall into arrears and one more reason to renew. And an EPC A home has nothing to retrofit when the confirmed EPC C rules arrive for rentals by 2030, while owners of older stock face works with a government cost cap set at £15,000 per home. The full breakdown of the model is on our Zero Bills page, and plot by plot details are available on request.
Around 300 Zero Bills family houses from £259,995, reserved with 5%. Request the brochure and plot list.
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