UK’s big net‑zero neighbourhood

Barratt Redrow is building a 576-home scheme in south Wales that it says will be the United Kingdom’s largest net-zero-carbon neighbourhood. (barrattredrow.co.uk) The project is at Cosmeston Farm in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Penarth, and the Welsh Government announced the contract on October 2, 2025. Half of the homes are classed as affordable, with 219 earmarked for social rent. (gov.wales) A net-zero home, in this case, is designed to produce as much energy as it uses over a year. Barratt Redrow says every home will use a ground-source heat pump for heating, plus rooftop solar panels and battery storage. (gov.wales) Ground-source heat pumps work like a refrigerator in reverse, pulling steady heat from the ground through buried pipes and moving it indoors. At Cosmeston Farm, GTC says those heat pumps will be linked with smart controls, batteries, and local electricity and water networks as one system. (gtc-uk.co.uk) GTC was named in April 2026 to deliver that package, which also includes software that shifts when homes draw power, store solar electricity, and earn money from grid-flexibility services. The company says the aim is lower bills for residents and lower peak demand on the wider electricity grid. (gtc-uk.co.uk) The timing lines up with tighter building rules. The United Kingdom government’s Future Homes Standard is intended to cut emissions from new homes by about 75% to 80% versus 2013 rules, and Barratt Redrow says Cosmeston Farm will go beyond that benchmark. (constructionmanagement.co.uk) (gov.uk) Cardiff University has been appointed to check whether the homes actually hit their zero-carbon target in day-to-day use. GTC says it will collect sitewide data from the heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, controls, and local network so the results can be independently reviewed. (gov.wales) (gtc-uk.co.uk) The development is bigger than a housing estate alone. Plans released by Barratt Redrow and the Welsh Government include a new primary school, open space, community buildings, mixed-use retail, and an active-travel route. (barrattredrow.co.uk) (twinfm.com) The test for Cosmeston Farm is no longer whether the equipment can be installed on one plot. It is whether 576 homes can run as a monitored, all-electric neighbourhood at scale, with bills and emissions low enough for other large developers and governments to copy. (gtc-uk.co.uk) (gov.wales)