The Short Answer
ECO4 makes the bigger energy companies pay for insulation and heating upgrades in lower-income homes in England, Scotland and Wales. It ends on 31 December 2026, and the government isn't replacing it with another supplier scheme.
You might qualify if someone in your household gets a benefit such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit and your home is rated D to G (E to G if you rent privately). Council and housing association homes can qualify without a benefit. If you don't get a benefit, ask your council about ECO4 Flex. If you think you qualify, ask your council or an energy company now rather than in December.
Check If You Qualify
ECO4 checker
Could ECO4 pay for your insulation or heating?
On gov.uk's and Ofgem's rules, checked 25 October 2026. Up to four questions.
Where do you live?
What ECO4 Is
The Energy Company Obligation is a legal duty on medium and large energy suppliers to fund energy efficiency work for low-income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households in Great Britain. Ofgem runs it for the government. The current version, ECO4, covers work done from 1 April 2022 and runs until 31 December 2026, after a nine-month extension.
One thing to know before you start: Ofgem says "ECO is not a grant scheme". Meeting the rules doesn't guarantee you'll get anything: each energy company decides which homes to fund, how much it puts in, and which installers it uses.
Who Qualifies
There are three routes in, and the house has to qualify as well as the household.
| You | What gov.uk and Ofgem need |
|---|---|
| Own your home | A qualifying benefit, and an EPC of D, E, F or G |
| Rent privately | A qualifying benefit, an EPC of E, F or G, and your landlord's permission |
| Rent from a council or housing association | No benefit needed. Gov.uk says homes rated E to G; Ofgem's rules also allow D where the rent is below market rate. E to G homes can get insulation or heating, D-rated homes only insulation (and innovation measures). You need your landlord's permission |
| No qualifying benefit | Your council may refer you under ECO4 Flex, or as in-fill if neighbours qualify |
The benefits on gov.uk's list: Universal Credit, Pension Guarantee Credit, Pension Savings Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Child Benefit. Ofgem's rules add income requirements to the list, including caps for Child Benefit, and count people who get the Warm Home Discount's Core Group 1 or 2 rebate in England and Wales, or its Core Group rebate in Scotland. It's the household that has to qualify, so a benefit claimed by anyone living there counts, and a landlord's circumstances don't matter: Ofgem says it's the tenant's eligibility that's considered.
ECO4 Flex lets councils (and the Scottish and Welsh governments, and suppliers) refer households that don't get a benefit but meet one of four routes in the scheme's rules. Ask your council whether it takes part and what its routes are.
In-fill means a home that doesn't qualify can sometimes be treated because its neighbours do: one flat for each qualifying flat in the same block, or one house for every 3 qualifying houses on the same street. In-fill flats can get solid wall insulation, cavity wall insulation or a heat network connection; in-fill houses only solid wall insulation or a heat network connection.
What ECO4 Pays For
ECO4 is meant to upgrade the whole house, not fit one measure. Ofgem's minimum requirement is to lift homes rated D or E to at least C, and F or G to at least D. The work can include:
- Insulation: loft, cavity wall, solid wall, room-in-roof and underfloor.
- First time central heating, renewable heating such as a heat pump, or a heat network connection.
- Windows: single to double glazing, or better double glazing, though Ofgem stresses each company decides whether to fund it.
- Boilers: an old non-condensing boiler can be upgraded. A broken efficient boiler that can't be economically repaired can be replaced only under a cap on how many of those the scheme funds, so don't count on it. In privately rented homes, boiler replacements are generally not allowed.
Private rented homes have their own rule: the package has to include solid wall insulation, first time central heating, a heat network connection or renewable heating, plus whatever else meets the minimum requirement.
Will You Have to Pay Anything?
Maybe. Ofgem says "in some cases, you may be asked to contribute", doesn't comment on how much, and tells people to shop around. You can get offers from more than one company and turn down anything you don't think suits your home.
ECO4 money can't be mixed with other government funding for the same project, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the Warm Home Discount. Other schemes' work has to be done before the ECO4 project starts or after it's completely finished. So if you're planning a heat pump with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, sort out the order with your installer first.
How to Apply
- Find your EPC rating on the government's EPC register (Scotland has its own register). ECO4 starts from the rating.
- Ask your council whether it's taking part, or contact an energy company directly. It doesn't have to be your own supplier: Ofgem says any obligated supplier can fund work in any home in Great Britain that meets the rules, you stay a customer of your own supplier, and it publishes their contact details.
- Check the installer. Ofgem doesn't approve installers. Most ECO4 work must be done by a TrustMark-registered installer (or equivalent), and a heat network connection by one with Heat Trust or equivalent protection. They also need the right certification for the job: PAS for most measures, MCS for heat pumps, Gas Safe for gas boilers, OFTEC for oil.
- Get a contract before you agree to anything. You should also be given an eligibility form and a privacy notice.
- Sign the post-installation declaration only when the work is finished and you're happy with it, and keep a copy.
Keep the guarantees: Ofgem says ECO insulation such as wall, room-in-roof and underfloor must come with a guarantee of at least 25 years, and a replaced or upgraded boiler or storage heater with a warranty of at least 2 years (1 year for a repair).
If someone gets in touch out of the blue offering ECO4 work, gov.uk's advice is to check with your council or the energy company they say they represent.
Solid Wall Insulation: Read This First
Gov.uk's ECO page opens with a warning about quality problems with solid wall insulation fitted through the scheme. Using DESNZ and Ofgem figures, the National Audit Office (14 October 2025) estimated that 98% of homes given external wall insulation under ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme had major issues needing remediation, and 29% of those given internal wall insulation. Gov.uk says every home with external wall insulation from either scheme will be offered a home check, faulty work goes back to the installer to fix, and you shouldn't be asked to pay: Ofgem's line for this is 0808 169 4447. In our view, if ECO4 offers you solid wall insulation, read our solid wall insulation guide before you sign, and ask who will check the work.
What Happens When ECO4 Ends
ECO4 runs until 31 December 2026. The Warm Homes Plan says ECO, which it calls "the source of the majority of poor-quality installations", "will be coming to an end". The Great British Insulation Scheme already closed on 31 March 2026. In England, help for low-income households moves to public money instead, through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and the Warm Homes: Local Grant at first, then "a single scheme for low-income households". The plan also says poor-quality ECO work will be "put right, at no cost to the consumer".
| Where you live | What's there besides ECO4 |
|---|---|
| England | Warm Homes: Local Grant, through councils, for privately owned homes rated D to G on lower incomes |
| Scotland | Warmer Homes Scotland and the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan: call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 |
| Wales | Warm Homes Nest, free improvements for households that qualify: 0808 808 2244 |
| Northern Ireland | ECO4 never applied. Affordable Warmth and NISEP: NI Energy Advice Service on 0800 111 44 55 |
More detail by nation: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
If Something Goes Wrong
Solid wall insulation from ECO4 or GBIS: follow gov.uk's separate process above, through Ofgem (0808 169 4447, ECOhelp@ofgem.gov.uk). For anything else:
- Go back to the installer, using the contract and paperwork.
- Contact the guarantee provider if the installer won't help or has gone out of business.
- Complain to the installer's scheme: TrustMark, Gas Safe Register, OFTEC or MCS.
- Contact the energy company that funded the work.
- Citizens Advice can refer it to Trading Standards.
Lost the paperwork? Ofgem can tell you who installed an ECO measure and which energy company funded it, through a subject access request to ECO.SAR@ofgem.gov.uk. Its records only include a job 3 months after installation.
Not eligible, or want a price to compare?
If ECO4 doesn't fit, or you've been asked to contribute, compare quotes from up to 3 local insulation installers for loft, cavity, floor or solid wall work. Free, no obligation, takes about 60 seconds.
