British Gas and Barratt Redrow Partnership Gives Consumers Homes With ‘Free Energy’

30 July 2025

3 Minutes

ESG

Media Relations

Barratt Redrow, the UK’s biggest housebuilder, has teamed-up with energy leader British Gas to deliver homes with free energy to a new development in Lincolnshire – the first of a wider partnership roll-out over the coming year.

The groundbreaking trial at the Pastures Place development will see 10 homeowners pay no energy bills on their homes for two years in return for sharing data on the use of their home’s eco technology and their home in use, enabling the partners to understand how consumers adapt to living in a home with renewable energy. Pastures Place has been developed by Barratt Redrow’s David Wilson Homes brand.

The homes’ eco technology will be provided by Hive - the UK’s largest eco-tech brand. Hive’s Intelligent Energy Management uses software to control smart devices that are connected to the grid. This will optimise customers’ air source heat pumps, maximum-fit solar panels and batteries, smart sensors and lights. It can help to ensure more of a home’s energy needs are met from the energy generated from a home or help to use more energy when the grid is quieter and can deliver greener and cheaper energy.

Homeowners won’t pay electricity bills for heating, hot water, lighting, cooking and household appliances for two years, saving them around £1,258 per year (£105 per month) 1 for an energy bill in a typical new build house. Actual energy bill savings will depend on the size of a home, the amount of people living in the home and usage patterns.

If the trial is successful, it could mark the start of a wider roll-out at a time when energy bills are on average higher than they have historically been.

The deal doesn’t include electrical car charging and also carries a fair usage agreement of 5,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) in total over the year.

If a home generates more electricity than a consumer uses, they can, after the two-year trial, sell the extra energy through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). Homeowners will continue to see low bills, with those generating more electricity than they use, achieving zero bills or earning money.

"Our partnership with Barratt Redrow is a strong example of how the right eco-tech empowers people to take control of their energy use and get even more from their homes.”

Hamish Phillips, Net Zero Business Development Director at Centrica

The data from the trial homes will also be analysed by scientists at the University of Salford, which is renowned for its expertise in researching low carbon homes. Barratt Redrow and the University of Salford have for the past two years been researching technologies in its net zero carbon concept house built within the Energy House 2.0 climate chamber.

By monitoring the homes for two years, the partners will also be able to share the data with leading surveyors and mortgage lenders to help them to understand the impact on valuation and the link to green mortgages that better reflect the higher disposable income that homeowners might have from living in a more energy efficient home.

Oliver Novakovic, Head of Technical & Innovation at Barratt Redrow, said: “The partnership will see Barratt Redrow and British Gas test a template for delivering low to no bill homes at scale. The trial of free energy bill homes at Corby Glen is an important step forward from the concept homes that we have built at the University of Salford to delivering the learnings into customers’ homes. We are designing and delivering innovative, energy efficient, low carbon homes that enable customers to live comfortably with advanced fabric and heating technology, so that they can gain the benefits of both lower bills.”

Hamish Phillips, Net Zero Business Development Director at Centrica, which owns British Gas and Hive, added: “British Gas is proud to bring its trusted expertise into the homes of the future using Hive’s innovative technology. We understand the meaningful difference that smart home solutions can make—not only helping customers save money, but also supporting their ambitions to live more sustainably. Our partnership with Barratt Redrow is a strong example of how the right eco-tech empowers people to take control of their energy use and get even more from their homes.”

As an eco-tech company, Hive has already transformed home energy usage in over 2 million homes helping them to save over 1.5 million tonnes of carbon through its energy efficient smart home technology, largely aimed at gas systems. This has saved its customers half a billion pounds in energy costs, the equivalent of powering 539,000 homes for a year.

The 10 homes are expected to be available for sale from July 2025. Further information about the properties can be found here.

Notes to Editors

For further information on Barratt Redrow’s involvement in the partnership, please contact: [email protected] or 07854 523 924

¹The cost saving estimates are based on Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculation, which is a method used to evaluate the energy performance of new homes in the UK, and calculations produced by the Home Builders Federation in its Watt a Save Report.

Further details on the trial:

During the trial of 10 free bill homes, homeowners will pay no energy bills in exchange for sharing data on the use of their home’s eco technology and their home in use. After the two-year trial, it’s likely that homeowners will continue to see relatively low bills, with those generating more electricity than they use, achieving zero bills or lower.

In future homes designed to meet the highest standards of energy efficiency, the absence of gas appliances means that energy consumption bills will be influenced by several key factors. These include the amount of solar generation, the level of battery support, the comfort requirements of

the customer, their general unregulated energy consumption behaviours (plugs and sockets) and, as decarbonisation accelerates, their need for electric vehicle (EV) charging.

About Barratt Redrow:

Barratt Redrow is the UK’s most recommended homebuilder, making sustainable living a reality and building strong communities that people want to live in. Across our leading brands – Barratt, David Wilson and Redrow – Barratt Redrow offers high-quality, energy-efficient homes for every stage of life across England, Wales and Scotland. The UK’s largest homebuilder, we lead the industry on quality, service and sustainability.

Our customers have rated us ‘five-star’ in the HBF’s customer satisfaction survey for an unrivalled 16 consecutive years.
Our site managers have won more NHBC Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for 21 years in a row.
We are ranked the UK’s leading national housebuilder by independent benchmarks, such as CDP, Next Generation and on Time Magazine’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies list 2025.

About British Gas:

British Gas is Britain’s leading supplier of energy and home services and the country’s biggest retailer of zero carbon electricity. We are part of Centrica, a company founded on a 200-year heritage of serving people. We provide energy, products, and services to over 10 million UK homes and businesses, supported by around 7,000 highly trained engineers and technicians. We also offer a range of innovative products and services, including Hive. Our purpose of helping customers live sustainably, simply and affordably drives our strategy and our People and Planet Plan. 

About Hive:

Hive is the UK’s largest eco-tech brand. Since 2013, we have pioneered technology that simplifies home energy for our customers; offering solutions that give customers easy ways to live greener, lower bills and manage their home energy use. Over two million customers have joined Hive and use our range of technology including thermostats, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and super-efficient heat pumps. These all work seamlessly through the Hive Home App, where you’ll find exclusive offers, subscriptions and energy tariffs to maximise your energy savings and management. Hive is part of Centrica, providing energy and services to 10 million UK homes and businesses, supported by thousands of highly trained engineers and technicians. Offering an innovative range of products and services, including Hive, we are committed to energising a greener, fairer future as laid out in our People and Planet Plan and Annual Report.