Thakeham to build 1,350 ‘zero bills’ homes in deal with Octopus Energy

Thakeham is set to submit plans for a 1,350-home ‘zero bills’ development in West Sussex after firming a contract with Octopus Energy. 

Launched in 2022, zero bills is a world-first energy tariff from Octopus Energy that allows customers to move into homes with clean technology, including a heat pump, a battery and solar panels, with a guarantee of no energy bills for at least five to ten years. 

Signed at the Labour Party conference earlier yesterday the £34m-turnover housebuilder and energy company have pledged to deliver all possible future developments as zero bills. 

This initiative follows a successful trial scheme at Thakeham’s 120-unit Templegate site in Burgess Hill this year. 

The partnership will support Octopus Energy’s goal of providing 100,000 bill-free homes by 2030, as well as the government’s target of 40% affordable housing in new towns. 

Zero bills homes are powered by tech platform ‘Kraken’, which automatically matches the consumption and green energy generation of the dwellings in real time on behalf of the residents. 

Thakeham has a land portfolio of 45,000 housing units, including several new towns and villages that are envisaged to be ‘net zero carbon communities’. 

Rob Boughton, founder and chief executive of Thakeham, said: “Low carbon living isn’t an aspiration – it can be achieved today. With the government committing to building 1.5 million homes, and half of our housing for 2050 not built yet, we have the opportunity to set a new benchmark for sustainable living. 

“Strengthening our partnership with Octopus Energy will move us closer to making energy bills a thing of the past for our communities, while also playing a vital role in addressing the housing supply crisis.”