Tenant Power: Scaling Equitable Energy and Decarbonisation

A long-term view starting to pay off 

What stands out in their story is patience. Together Housing began this journey in 2019, after the feed-in tariff ended, determined to continue installing solar, but needing a model that worked commercially. 

A 250-home pilot followed, testing orientations, occupancy types and battery performance. The aim was simple: gather data, not assumptions. But the regulatory environment, technology and market signals were not yet aligned. 

Patrick reflects: 

“What we were proposing was new, and probably ahead of where the markets were… the technology was just coming in to enable it.” 

Fast forward to now, and the landscape is different. Battery optimisation has moved on. Markets have opened for trading domestic storage. More funding streams are recognising clean heat and renewables. DNOs, albeit slowly, are improving processes. 

That long view is finally bearing fruit. This is exactly the kind of strategic resilience Healthy Homes Hub has been advocating for: invest early, learn continuously, design for future flexibility.  

A simple, equitable offer for tenants 

One of the most powerful aspects of Tenant Power is its fairness. Regardless of whether a property can fit four panels or fourteen, the tenant receives the same 30 per cent discount on their electricity unit rate. 

Nigel explains: 

“The beauty of Tenant Power… both the house with four panels and the house with fourteen panels get the same 30 per cent discount.” 

For a sector grappling with equity, who benefits first, who misses out, this is significant. Traditional retrofit programmes often create “winners and losers”. Tenant Power removes that tension entirely. 

And unlike standard solar setups, where benefits peak in summer, the discount applies all year. As Nigel notes, it is especially powerful for households with heat pumps: using electricity for heating and hot water becomes far more affordable. 

Little wonder residents are responding positively. Solar is trusted. Octopus is trusted. And, crucially, the offer is easy to understand. 

Turning homes into permanent generating assets 

A particularly interesting shift is how Patrick frames the system from an asset management perspective. Solar and batteries are no longer seen as add-on costs with fixed lifespans. Instead, they are permanent power-generating assets. 

“We effectively generate a disaggregated power station across our stock.” 

This is a mindset change the sector needs. Housing providers are used to thinking in 30-year life cycles and replacement costs. But a generating asset offers long-term revenue, contributes to EPC improvements, supports heat decarbonisation and strengthens community-level energy resilience. 

As grant funding evolves, particularly given the direction of the Warm Homes Fund and emerging clean heat incentives, the business case is only improving.  

The operational reality: challenges and opportunities 

Both Nigel and Patrick were candid: this is not frictionless. 

DNO permissions remain a bottleneck 

Delays, inconsistent approaches across regions and lack of clarity make consenting a major pain point. For providers with homes across multiple DNO areas, this is a real constraint. 

Technology and billing systems need re-thinking 

Octopus had to build new mechanisms to bill customers based on sub-metered consumption and to split revenues fairly. That complexity must sit behind the scenes: 

“Try and do all the complexity in the background and make a really simple solution for the end consumer.” 

Prepay remains unresolved 

Direct debit or credit accounts are currently required. Octopus is exploring whether prepay compatibility is possible without undermining revenue integrity for landlords. 

Despite this, the direction of travel is strong. Battery optimisation markets are maturing. Local flexibility markets are opening. As Nigel notes, grid-scale batteries are transforming national frequency markets, and domestic-scale assets may soon support local substations directly. 

In other words: do not design for today’s revenue streams, design for tomorrow’s.  

Scaling Tenant Power across the sector 

For Nigel, there are immediate opportunities: 

• New builds with heat pumps: adding batteries and Tenant Power is, in his words, “a no-brainer”. 

• Re-roofing programmes: swapping tiles for solar adds minimal cost, sometimes as little as £1,000 extra for a full roof. 

• Long-term decarbonisation pathways: pairing solar, storage and heat pumps can deliver deep reductions in running costs and carbon, far beyond fabric measures alone. 

Fabric-first remains essential, but fabric-only is not enough to unlock the scale of electrification needed. Combined systems, modelled over decades, are where decarbonisation becomes affordable and achievable.  

A vision for community energy and beyond 

Patrick’s longer-term ambition is compelling: 

“The ability to move power around the locality… to people who are not our tenants… must be part of the future.” 

Local energy markets, virtual networks, community supply, these are real possibilities when homes become generating assets. 

Given the Government’s focus on flexibility markets, SHDF’s likely shift towards clean heat, and the push to electrify 75–85 per cent of UK homes, Tenant Power feels less like an experiment and more like a blueprint. 

Practical steps for housing providers 

1. Develop or refresh your energy strategy 
Build a long-term plan for electrification, decarbonisation and resident affordability, not just EPC uplift. 

2. Map upcoming capital programmes 
Re-roofing and planned maintenance cycles create natural opportunities for solar and storage. 

3. Engage early with DNOs 
Permissions remain a blocker; proactive engagement reduces delays. 

4. Start with a pilot, but design for scale 
Gather archetype data, test billing systems and build a staged rollout pathway. 

5. Consider combining solar, battery and heat pumps 
This is where the biggest gains lie for bills, comfort and carbon.