Greenwich is now home to the greenest homes in the UK, built in a factory in Yorkshire to be heated on as little as £1-a-day as part of a new project offering a glimpse into the future of social housing.

Four 'zero-carbon' homes have been built for Greenwich Council, which is trying to meet its dual pledges of delivering 750 new council homes and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The four eco-homes were built by Ilke Homes in its factory in Knaresborough before being craned into place and installed on Robert Street, Woolwich in south east London.

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What's groundbreaking about these council homes is they have been designed to exceed net-zero carbon standards, meaning they are capably of actually delivering energy back to the grid.

They are fitted with solar panels and individual air source heat pumps, and due to the high levels of energy-efficiency, the homes can be heated on as little as £1-a-day, allowing residents to make huge savings on energy bills.

The factory-built houses can boast an EPC rating well above the highest category of A, which represents just one percent of UK new builds (the average rating is D), making them the greenest in the country.

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Matthew Bench, executive director of partnerships at ilke Homes, said, they are now some of the most energy-efficient homes on the market.

"Rather than using carbon offsetting schemes, which is a common occurrence when the industry talks about net-zero, all the carbon savings are achieved by the technologies of the homes themselves.

"It has been fantastic to partner with ENGIE and Greenwich Council on this innovative and sustainable development.

“Climate change is accelerating and unless we act soon it will run out of control. With more than 250 councils across the UK declaring an emergency, there has never been a more important time for central and local government to look towards innovative methods of housebuilding as a means of delivering new, energy-efficient homes.”

Ilke Homes, who are a modular housing company, collaborated with ENGIE, who were responsible clearing space for the buildings using demolition, and then preparing structural work in Woolwich.

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Because they have been manufactured offsite, the homes can be delivered and set up in half the time as traditional methods of house building

The development comes as Royal Borough of Greenwich, which recently declared a local climate emergency, laid bare in February the huge task ahead in meeting its carbon reduction targets.

The council estimates that its 21,000 homes are responsible for 20% of emissions in the borough, with the cost of retrofitting buildings to come close to the £1bn mark.

Greenwich Council's cabinet member for housing, Cllr Anthony Okereke, said these "high-quality and sustainable" council homes are the first of 750 to be delivered as part of Greenwich Builds.

“That we’ve been able to complete these much needed new homes on schedule speaks to the hard work of the Greenwich Builds team and our partners at Engie and ilke Homes.

"Addressing the shortage of social housing is a top priority for the Council and we’re delighted that Robert Street, our pilot Greenwich Builds development, is now ready for local families to move in.”