Consumers living in some new-build properties are paying some £15 million in additional charges each year without their knowledge, according to an independent price comparison site.

Research by SimplySwitch suggests that some 56 per cent of new property dwellers in the UK are not aware of higher charges that are associated with receiving gas through private pipelines set up by independent gas transporters, rather than National Grid Transco.

Karen Darby, from the firm, comments that according to its research, some 54 per cent of consumers do not know which mains gas network services them and only when they come to change supplier do they realise.

"This can be very frustrating for the customer who is effectively picking up the tab for the developer year on year - and the initial savings made during construction are unlikely to have been passed on to them in terms of property price [and] rental rate," she adds.

It was recently asserted by the editor of the ENDS report - a monthly journal for environmental business and policy - that new homes in the UK have made "substantial advances" in their energy efficiency over the last ten or 20 years.