What do Octopus Zero Bills and Tenant Power mean for ordinary customers?

Octopus is now talking much more about homes that come with solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and smart controls from the start. That can sound like a new tariff launch for everyone. In practice, the most important offers are still tied to particular homes and landlords.

That does not make them irrelevant. Zero Bills and Tenant Power show why Octopus is pushing hard into low-carbon homes, social housing and flexible energy. They just need to be understood as property models first, not as a button a normal customer can press during a standard supplier switch.

What Zero Bills is

Octopus Zero Bills is for homes that qualify for a specific Zero Bills standard. Octopus describes it as a tariff with zero home energy bills, guaranteed, for qualifying homes. Its live 2026 Future Homes Standard page says customers who move into a Zero Bills home pay nothing on their home energy bills for at least five years, while some development announcements carry longer guarantees.

The home is the key point. A Zero Bills home is not just a normal property on a clever account. It usually needs a strong efficiency spec, solar, a battery, a heat pump or other connected low-carbon technology, plus Octopus control in the background. Octopus's own guidance says eligible tech must be connected so the system can keep the home within the model.

That is why the register and eligibility checks matter. If you are buying, renting or moving into a listed Zero Bills property, it is worth understanding the guarantee, fair-use allowance and technology requirements. If you are simply switching supplier in your current home, it is unlikely to be the next tariff you can select.

The April 2026 Wisbech announcement is a useful reminder to check the actual property terms. Octopus and Prosperity Group described a 300-home Zero Bills site where residents will pay no home energy bills for at least 10 years, with first homes expected in 2028. That does not turn the standard switching journey into a Zero Bills signup route, but it does show how the guarantee can vary by development.

What the Santander Zero Bills mortgage changes

In July 2026, Octopus and Santander launched a mortgage route for selected new-build homes with a 10-year Zero Bills guarantee. Santander can remove the home's monthly energy cost from its affordability calculation because that cost is covered by the guarantee. This is a property and mortgage assessment, not an extra energy tariff that any Octopus customer can add to a home.

The headline that an eligible buyer could borrow up to £30,000 more needs care. Octopus says that figure is an example for a five-bedroom family home. The actual amount still depends on the buyer's circumstances, the property, loan-to-income limits, Santander's lending policy, underwriting and product eligibility. Santander also says the mortgage is currently available through brokers.

If you are considering one of these homes, check the live Zero Bills development map and ask the broker to show how the guarantee has been treated in the affordability calculation. The useful questions are:

• Is this exact plot confirmed as an eligible Zero Bills home, rather than just a low-energy new build?
• Does the property carry the 10-year guarantee used by the mortgage assessment?
• What happens to the household budget and mortgage affordability when the guarantee ends?
• Which fair-use limits, connected-device requirements and maintenance responsibilities apply?
• Has EV charging been budgeted separately rather than counted inside Zero Bills?

Use the Santander Zero Bills guidance and the Octopus launch details as starting points, then rely on the broker's personalised affordability and product checks. A lower modelled energy outgoing does not guarantee a larger mortgage or make a more expensive home affordable.

The EV charging exception matters

One detail ordinary customers can easily miss is EV charging. Octopus's Zero Bills technology guide says EV charging is not included in the Zero Bills tariff. Instead, it is billed separately through Intelligent Octopus Go when the car or charger is connected to Octopus's platform.

That split is sensible, because an EV can add a large extra load. It also stops Zero Bills being misread as unlimited free energy for every household use. If you are looking at a Zero Bills home and you drive an EV, ask how your charger, car compatibility, Intelligent Octopus Go billing and fair-use terms work before assuming the whole monthly cost will be zero.

What Tenant Power is

Tenant Power is aimed at social landlords and tenants rather than standard switchers. Octopus describes it as a way for local authorities and housing associations to share the benefits of solar and battery systems: the landlord invests in the approved equipment, the tenant moves to the Tenant Power tariff and the landlord gets reporting it can invoice against.

The 20 May London rollout makes the point clearer. Octopus says Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the first London local authority to roll out Tenant Power, starting with 52 social homes. The homes need solar, a compatible battery and the scheme setup behind the scenes, so the offer still belongs to the property and landlord arrangement, not to a normal tariff comparison.

Octopus now frames the tenant saving as a 30% discount on electricity unit rates, with typical savings of up to around £200 a year compared with a standard variable tariff. That is useful for understanding the intention, but it is not a general discount code. Whether a tenant can benefit depends on the landlord, the property, the installed equipment and the scheme terms.

The current Tenant Power page is also clearer about the standing charge. The discount applies to the electricity unit rate, not to the standing charge, and the tenant must be with Octopus to use the tariff. A tenant can leave Octopus, but they lose the Tenant Power discount if they do.

Why the Future Homes Standard makes this more relevant

The Future Homes Standard is part of the reason these ideas are moving from niche demonstration projects into mainstream housing planning. Octopus says new homes from 2028 will need low-carbon heating and solar, and that the standard gets a typical new home much closer to the Zero Bills technical threshold.

For a normal customer, the takeaway is not that every new home will become an Octopus Zero Bills home. It is that new-build energy is becoming more tied to the fabric of the property: insulation, heating, solar, battery size, controls and who manages the energy system. The supplier decision will increasingly sit alongside the house decision.

What ordinary switchers should do now

If you are not buying a listed Zero Bills home and you are not in a Tenant Power scheme, the useful decision is still the ordinary one: which tariff fits your home, meter, technology and habits today.

• EV at home: compare Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus Go, including charger or car compatibility and whether smart charging suits your routine.
• Heat pump: compare Cosy, Agile, a fixed tariff and your normal heating pattern rather than assuming a future-home model applies.
• Solar and battery: check import and export together. A good export rate does not automatically make the import tariff right.
• No low-carbon tech yet: compare Flexible, fixed tariffs and any smart-meter options against your usage before chasing a specialist product.

The wider Octopus direction is still useful. It tells you that solar, batteries, heat pumps, EVs and smart controls are not separate decisions forever. A home that can store energy, shift demand and export at useful times is likely to have more options than one that cannot.

Questions to ask if a home advertises Zero Bills

If a developer, landlord or estate agent mentions Zero Bills, ask specific questions rather than relying on the label:

• Is the property on Octopus's Zero Bills register or otherwise confirmed as eligible?
• How long does the guarantee last and what happens after it ends?
• What fair-use allowance applies, and what counts outside it?
• Which devices must stay connected to Octopus control?
• How is EV charging billed if you have or later buy an electric car?
• Who maintains the solar, battery, heat pump and controls?
• What happens if a device fails, is replaced or becomes unsupported?

Bottom line

Zero Bills and Tenant Power are promising because they connect energy tariffs to better-designed homes. They are less useful if they are treated as normal switching products. Most people reading this today still need to compare the tariff that fits their current property, then keep an eye on whether their next home or landlord scheme opens up a different Octopus route.

If Octopus already looks like the best fit for your current home, the referral page below explains how to start the switch and use the referral link. If Zero Bills or Tenant Power is the specific reason you are interested, check the property or landlord eligibility first.