As the latest gas bill drops on your door mat consider this. You could be running your home for as little as £9 a week. A home which offers a chance to opt out of the fossil fuel economy and to cut out completely heating bills has gone on the market for

As the latest gas bill drops on your door mat consider this. You could be running your home for as little as £9 a week.

A home which offers a chance to opt out of the fossil fuel economy and to cut out completely heating bills has gone on the market for £495,000.

And as well as being cheap to run, it is carbon neutral, making it tick all the boxes for clean, green and cheap living of the future.

It has been labelled one of the greenest houses in Britain and it is the brainchild of architect Jerry Harrall, who turned his project designing an environmentally responsible home and work into a PhD doctorate.

Known as the Long Sutton Work/Life Project, the home, in Gedney Road, was designed and built, over four years, by Mr Harrall.

His intention was to see how far he could go opting out of the fossil fuel economy - but on a budget.

"And we achieved it," he said. "The intention was to design out the requirement for heating and for fossil fuels and achieve what we have achieved with no net carbon emissions."

The four-bedroom home is fossil fuel free, requires no heating and uses just 10pc of the energy used by a conventional four-bedroom house.

It was designed to make the most of daylight so that lights are not left on, and its heating and hot water are sun-powered.

It has two bathrooms, a television room, living room, large garden, separate office building, large play area, fruit trees, vegetable garden and a Mediterranean garden to create a microclimate.

It cost just £750 per square metre to build instead of about £1,200 for a standard home.

"It is the way the building is designed. Whoever buys it is going to have an insurance policy against escalating prices of fuel in the future."

There is no covenant put on the house to stop anyone making it less carbon neutral or energy efficient, but Mr Harrall thinks there would be no reason for people to do that.

Estate agent negotiator Sophie Lambert thinks the green status of the house will be its unique selling point.

"It is unique because it offers a totally different way of living," she said.

"In this day and age when the cost of utility bills is high, their bills are approximately £9 per week. That's where its unique selling point is."

Mr Harrall said: "My wife Kay and the children will be sad to leave it.

"It is an insight into what will we will see on the market in the future. I have already had a lot of interest from people wanting to buy it."

The father-of-three runs his business SEARCH Architects Sustainable Ecological Architecture from the site and is currently working on a major earth shelter business development, which will include eco-pods building office and a café.

The property is on sale with Sowerbys: contact 01485 533666

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