We compare business gas and electricity from 20 plus suppliers for retirement and extra-care housing schemes. Typical bills run £22.2k to £99.9k a year and businesses that switch with us save 40 per cent on average, typically 30 to 50 per cent. The figures on this page are estimates from published UK benchmarks, not quotes.
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What a typical retirement/extra care uses and pays across the UK, from published benchmarks.
Figures are estimates from published UK benchmarks priced at 25p/kWh electricity, 7p/kWh gas and about £365 a year in standing charges. They are not quotes. See how we estimate.
Extra-care and retirement schemes sit between housing and care, and the landlord or management company usually holds a substantial communal supply: heated corridors and lounges, a restaurant or bistro, a communal laundry, guest suite, hairdresser, activity rooms, passenger lifts, door entry and warden call, plus in many schemes a communal boiler or plant room heating every apartment. The number of extra care housing schemes in England grew from around 711 in 2005 to roughly 1,729 by 2025, and the communal supply is often on a service charge, which means residents feel every rollover directly. Schemes where each flat has its own boiler carry a much smaller landlord supply, so we ask which you are.
A communal plant room heating every apartment plus all the shared space, running the whole heating season and producing hot water all year round.
Corridors, stairwells and lounges lit and heated 24 hours, because residents move around at all hours and dark communal routes mean falls.
Passenger lifts, door entry, warden call and CCTV drawing continuously, on a building where a large share of residents cannot use the stairs.
Communal energy recovered through the service charge, so a rollover rate does not just hit the operator, it lands on residents who are mostly on fixed incomes.
Typical equipment loads across care homes and supported living, with annual kWh and cost bands from published benchmarks.
| Equipment | kWh a year | Cost a year (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Gas boilers, radiators and space heating (24/7 at 22-24C) | 250,000–500,000 kWh | £17,500–£35,000 |
| Hot water: stored cylinders, assisted baths, wet rooms, secondary circulation | 90,000–180,000 kWh | £6,300–£12,600 |
| On-site laundry: washer-extractors and vented tumble dryers | 18,000–45,000 kWh | £4,500–£11,250 |
| Catering kitchen: combi ovens, dishwasher, walk-in fridge and freezer | 20,000–45,000 kWh | £5,000–£11,250 |
| 24/7 lighting, nurse call, door access, CCTV and fire systems | 15,000–38,000 kWh | £3,750–£9,500 |
| Passenger lifts, ceiling hoists, profiling beds and pressure mattress pumps | 6,000–18,000 kWh | £1,500–£4,500 |
Be clear about which meters you actually hold. Landlord communal supply, a heat network serving the flats and individually metered apartments are three very different tenders, and mixing them up produces a quote that will not stand up.
If you operate a communal heat network, insulate and commission the distribution properly. Standing losses on a poorly lagged network can be a large share of the gas you buy and residents never see the benefit.
Communal LED with presence detection is the single best return in a scheme, because corridor and stairwell fittings run continuously and you can keep low-level lighting for safety.
Price the renewal well ahead. Because communal costs are recovered through a service charge, budget certainty is worth as much as headline price, and a longer fixed term can be the right answer.
If you operate several schemes, tender them as one portfolio and align the end dates with your service charge year so the budget and the contract move together.
Illustrative example
Around 30 registered beds with in-house laundry
Heating, hot water, laundry and catering cannot be switched off, so the whole bill rides on the contract rate.
Illustrative example, not a real customer. Figures are estimates based on published UK benchmarks. See how we estimate. See all worked examples.
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