ECO4 Grants Explained

ECO4 is the fourth phase of The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) – a government-funded scheme that makes UK homes more energy efficient and tackles fuel poverty.

Since 2013, over 3.1 million home improvements have been made under the scheme, but this final phase aims to go even further.

What is the ECO4 grant?

ECO4 is the fourth stage of the government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. As part of its Sustainable Warmth Strategy, the government has extended the ECO grant for an extra four years, meaning it will run until March 2026.

The primary goal of this grant is to support low-income households who are unable to upgrade their homes and heating systems.

By doing this, the government will be able to help vulnerable people power their homes, whilst also helping the country reach its net zero by 2050 goal.

How is ECO4 different from ECO3?

Although there are a lot of similarities between phase three and four of the ECO scheme, the government is aiming to reach more people during this final stage.

Under ECO3, energy suppliers with more than 150,000 domestic customers were obligated to support eligible applicants. Although this is currently the case for ECO4, the government is hoping to remove obligation thresholds by introducing “a buy-out mechanism”. This essentially means smaller companies will also be able to participate in the scheme.

The government has also changed the eligibility criteria for ECO4 while looking for ways to help low-income families who aren’t receiving benefits.

The ECO4 report states that 46.1% of fuel-poor households are not in receipt of benefits. To support these low-income groups, the government vaguely states that it will “expand and reform local authority flexibility, so that suppliers can deliver up to 50% of their obligation via that route.”

At the same time, the government is removing some benefits that were previously available under ECO3 “to help better target households which are more likely to be on low incomes”.

What does ECO4 cover?

Depending on which energy supplier you go for, you could get a range of different home improvements.

To give you an idea of the type of support you can get with the ECO4 grant, take a look at the key areas of interest below.

Insulating homes

The ECO4 scheme takes a fabric-first approach, which means it focuses on improving the building itself before installing new heating systems.

In fact, any home with an efficiency rating of ‘D’ or below will have to install loft, roof, and exterior-facing cavity wall insulation before improving any existing heating systems.

The government’s ECO4 report shows a specific interest in insulating solid walls – aiming to carry out 22,000 solid wall insulation instalments each year.

Repairing boilers

We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘waste not, want not’, right? Well, the saying also applies to our household appliances.

The government claims that “to date, we have seen no boiler or electric storage heater repairs” through the scheme. Instead of repairing efficient gas boilers, people are replacing them after around three to eight years – far before the end of their expected lifetime of 12 years.

This is why ECO4 will incentivise repairing efficient heating systems where possible. Any broken heating systems that cannot be repaired can be replaced through the Broken Heating Cap – which brings us to our next point. You can learn more about how much this would cost without ECO4 on our page on boiler repair costs.

Installing greener heating systems

ECO4 focuses on replacing old, worn-out boilers with greener alternatives.

To make sure the country hits its net zero by 2050 goal, the ECO3 scheme excluded coal-fuelled heating systems. ECO4 will be continuing this rule, whilst also adding oil- and LPG-fuelled heating systems to the exclusion list.

Instead, the government will encourage people to replace their boilers with greener alternatives, namely heat pumps and biomass boilers. ECO4 will also continue to install solar photovoltaics (PV) in all electrically heated homes – but only if a biomass machine or District Heat Network has been ruled out.

How to apply for ECO4?

Click the 'ECO4 Enquiry' button below, fill in the short questionare and we will be in touch with you with-in a couple of working days.

ECO4 Enquiry