Don’t Waste Energy – Reasons to Buy a New Build Home This Winter

Why you should buy a new build home this winter

As the chill of the colder months begins to set in and the heating is left on just that little bit longer each evening, there are very few who won’t feel the pinch of energy costs this winter. Most will be aware that a new build home is much more energy efficient than its Victorian counterpart, but we decided to get all the details from someone who knows a thing or two about heating and hot water – Ali Arshad, Head of L&Q Energy. Read on to find out more about L&Q Energy, and why buying a new home could make a big difference to your monthly energy bills.

We manage the heating and hot water needs of every property owned by L&Q that has a communal or a district network. We also have our own customer service and billing team, as well as dedicated maintenance teams, project managers and engineers, to ensure tenants can reach us if there are problems with their heating and hot water supply, and that we can get things fixed quickly. “L&Q is the first social housebuilder to set up an Energy Services Company in this way – you could say we are paving the way for other social housebuilders to follow!

L&Q energy was set up to manage two things primarily: the risk of extortionate energy costs for our residents, and to have better risk management from a commercial standpoint. Ultimately it comes down to the customer – our residents – and being able to offer them a better, more sustainable, reliable and cost-effective service. “As an example, when the world was seeing high peaks in energy bills earlier this year, our residents didn’t experience the increase to the same extent.  L&Q Energy was able to manage this scenario better than some others in the market, which meant we delivered the heat at a price which was far below market standard.

New builds are often far more energy efficient than older homes because of modern building regulations, which ensures L&Q – and all other housebuilders – are delivering well insulated and greener homes. New homes feature things such as double glazing, better insulation, efficient boilers and water-saving systems, all of which ultimately contribute to lower energy bills. This supported by better designed energy networks ensures that residents are not burdened with costs associated with excess losses and therefore pay a reasonable price for their usage.

The Mortgage Advice Bureau reports that new build homes can cost around 50% less to run than older homes, which is a huge saving. Add into that the fact that L&Q Energy has been set up with the very aim of saving tenants money on energy bills, our residents should see a noticeable difference to what they’d pay with other providers.

Sustainability is very important to us, not just in the Energy team but across the whole business – we are making significant strides, especially when it comes to improving the efficiency of some of our existing networks and energy assets. There’s still lots of work to be done, and we are transparent about what that looks like. We are involved with industry leaders to develop a universal build, design and efficiency standard for all networks so that everybody is able to benefit from better performing networks and pay a fair amount for their energy usage. A sustainable approach to our work is ultimately good news for everyone, so that’s what we’ll keep working towards.