“We won’t be arguing about the heating this winter”

From 1 October energy bills rise again for 22 million households, however, Monica and Rob have gone from paying £1,300 a year to heat an apartment to paying nothing at all, for their new three- bedroom Octopus Zero Bills house.

On 1 October the energy price cap rises by 4%, taking a typical annual dual-fuel bill to £1,723 and pushing gas costs up by 8%. For the roughly 22 million households on default tariffs it will be the second consecutive increase, landing just as the heating goes on.

Monica and Rob will not be among them. The couple moved into Carpenters Yard in Epping Forest this summer, and their home is guaranteed to cost nothing to run for at least the next five years.

Carpenters Yard is one of the UK’s largest Zero Bills communities: 113 homes built by award-winning housebuilder gs8 and powered by a cutting-edge community microgrid delivered in partnership with Octopus Energy. Formally launched by the Housing Secretary in December 2025, every home – private and affordable alike – is guaranteed to have no home energy bills thanks to Octopus’ Zero Bills tariff.

Launched in 2022, Octopus’ Zero Bills is a world-first energy tariff that allows customers to move into homes packed with cutting-edge green tech – including a heat pump, battery and solar panels – with no home energy bills for at least 5-10 years, guaranteed.*

Two flats, one cladding certificate and a year of waiting

Monica, 32, works in communications and commutes into Westminster; Rob, 36, works in east London. Both had spent years renting and then buying alone – Monica in a one-bedroom flat in Enfield, Rob in a three-bedroom flat in Witham – before deciding to buy their first home together.

Like a growing number of buyers priced out of London, they looked east for space but needed to stay within commuting distance. Monica had registered interest on Rightmove for Carpenters Yard but then forgot about it until a call from the sales team prompted a viewing.

“We saw the show home, instantly fell in love and decided we needed to make it work,” she says. “We went and put both flats on the market.”

Selling proved harder than falling in love. Rob’s flat was under offer within a week. Monica’s sale stalled over an EWS1 cladding certificate – the building-safety paperwork that has left thousands of flat owners unable to move – and required months of negotiation with the management company before it was resolved. In the end the couple completed on Carpenters Yard using the proceeds from Rob’s sale and their savings, a year after that first viewing. 

£1,300 a year on energy for an apartment. Nothing for a Zero Bills home.

The Zero Bills guarantee became the decisive factor when the couple worked out what a whole house would actually cost to run.

“For our one-bedroom flat in Enfield we were paying about £40 a month. For the three-bed in Witham it was £108 a month – about £1,300 a year,” says Monica. “So, for an actual house, especially through winter, we were looking into the thousands. It’s going to save us masses.”

The Zero Bills guarantee mattered even more the closer they got to completion. “It gives us peace of mind. It’s our first house together, and that’s a big undertaking when there’s so much uncertainty about whether bills will ever come down. Having a development that takes that off the table for five years means we can find our footing – and after that, we’ve still got the solar.”

She admits she was sceptical. “Initially I thought it was almost too good to be true – I thought there must be a catch. 

Four weeks in, Zero Bills is making a huge difference. “In our old flats Rob would say it’s too expensive to run the heating, just put on more clothes. I’d say ‘no, we actually need to turn it on’. Here you only need one radiator – and you don’t pay for it. We won’t be arguing over the heating this winter.”

The couple moved in during this summer’s heatwave, when temperatures pushed well into the thirties. “I’d go to the shops in a jumper and people would ask if I wasn’t boiling,” Monica says. “It’s genuinely hard to tell how hot it is outside, because the house stays so cool. Now it’s turning colder it’s doing the opposite – without us touching the heating.”

A convert to the new build

Monica had been searching for a period property, convinced new homes were a compromise. “I thought new builds lacked personality. We were completely stunned, not just by how different this was, but by how well thought through the whole development is. You get a beautiful house that’s sustainably built but has character, and then you step outside and it feels like a village.”

Shared allotments, a fitness centre, a yoga deck, a community café and a grocery store sit alongside a resident electric car club run with Polestar and an e-bike scheme with Volt. Monica, who had never considered an electric vehicle, has already visited a dealership. “I wouldn’t have engaged with EVs before. Now the charging point belongs to us, it makes more sense to switch.”

Josh Gordon, Co-Founder of gs8, said: “We wanted to build well-designed homes that are comfortable and affordable to run. At Carpenters Yard, that means warmth in winter, comfort in summer and the reassurance of our Zero Bills guarantee in partnership with Octopus Energy. With energy bills continually rising, keeping monthly costs predictable matters more than ever. Seeing Monica and Rob benefit from that is hugely rewarding. Of course, at the same time, they get to live in a beautifully designed home and neighbourhood. Being efficient doesn’t mean compromising on quality, but it must come hand-in-hand. It’s why we’ve put quality, energy efficiency and neighbourhood life at the heart of Carpenters Yard - so residents can expect more from their home, with less spent on running it.” 

Nigel Banks, Zero Bills Director at Octopus Energy, said: “We’re finding ourselves in yet another period of uncertainty in the energy market, and households are looking for ways to protect themselves from unpredictable energy prices. Living without a home energy bill is no longer a distant ambition – it’s a reality thanks to our Zero Bills tariff. “This partnership with gs8 at Carpenters Yard is a big step forward – together, we’re bringing Zero Bills living to hundreds of homes and showing what’s possible when smart energy technology is built in from day one.”

About Carpenters Yard

Carpenters Yard comprises 113 homes in Thornwood, Epping Forest – 78 design-led private homes and 35 affordable homes, all built to the same performance standard and all eligible for Octopus Energy’s Zero Bills tariff. Of the affordable homes, acquired by Octopus Capital’s Affordable Housing Fund, 20 are for affordable rent and 15 for shared ownership, with housing management by CHP, the largest not-for-profit housing association in Essex.

Two, three and four-bedroom homes start from £460,000, with four-bedroom houses from £850,000. The timber-frame homes are approximately 15 times more efficient than the UK standard for airtightness, with triple glazing, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and interiors featuring worktops made from 100% recycled glass and bathroom walls from recycled plastics. The scheme was also built with no skips on site, no waste to landfill, and more carbon stored in the homes and landscaping than was needed to build them.

Epping station, on the Central Line, is a short distance away – 37 minutes to Liverpool Street and 44 minutes to Canary Wharf.