A leading UK homebuilder is launching a new pilot programme, which it believes will support Manchester City Council’s carbon neutral aspirations.
Keepmoat Homes is releasing five new two and three bedroom homes available through heylo’s Home Reach, a part buy – part rent scheme at its Connell Gardens development in West Gorton. These unique homes are part of a pilot scheme that means they feature the latest smart home technology designed to combine energy generation, storage and home automation in order to reduce the impact of rising energy costs on the resident.
This project by the homebuilder is intended to support Manchester City Council’s vision of being a zero carbon city by 2038, with Keepmoat Homes working with smart home specialist Wondrwall to find practical solutions that provide an affordable, scalable and deliverable solution to reducing carbon emissions in new build housing. The new homes have the potential to reduce home energy consumption by 20% and electricity bills by up to 90%, deliver outstanding thermal performance and utilise renewable and clean energy with the potential to generate income by selling surplus energy back to the National Grid.
The project will see these five new homes receive:
- Dual aspect photovoltaic solar panels to generate as much electricity in a year as the homes consume
- Battery storage to maximise the use of free renewable and low cost off-peak electricity
- Enhanced building fabric improvements
- Car charging points
- Smart home automation to control and reduce energy usage automatically
Craig Murphy, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat Homes said: “Climate change is a key challenge facing everyone and that’s why we’re not only proud to support Manchester City Council’s ambition to be a zero carbon city but are also looking at ways we can support this on our developments.
“We felt the final phase of our Connell Gardens scheme provided the perfect opportunity to run a pilot project alongside the Council, Wondrwall and heylo to see how we could not only support local government aspirations but also help find practical solutions that tackle not just climate change but the rising energy costs of our customers.”
Daniel Burton, CEO of Wondrwall commented: “We are excited to be working with Keepmoat Homes to deliver our smart energy solution to create affordable homes that dramatically decrease the occupant’s energy consumption, costs and to help put an end to fuel poverty.”
Rupert Mackay, Acquisitions Director at heylo, added: “heylo is delighted to be working in partnership with Keepmoat Homes and Wondrwall to deliver these unique properties through its Home Reach, part buy – part rent scheme and to support Manchester’s City Council’s zero carbon city ambition.”
Cllr Suzanne Richards, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Regeneration, said: “Manchester is determined to do its part to limit the impact of climate change, which is why we have our ambitious target of becoming a zero carbon city by 2038. Reducing the environmental impact of new housing is central to reaching that target.
“To meet the demand for new housing in the city we need to build 32,000 new homes by 2025 with at least 20% being affordable. We need to ensure the city is championing sustainable building methods and energy efficiency, that will not only help us to reach our zero carbon target but will benefit residents’ pockets too. Pilots like this are going to be fundamental to the city’s zero carbon success.”
