Loading scheme
Loading scheme
ECO4 is the only scheme that can pay for an entire retrofit rather than a contribution towards one. It is also the hardest to get into: the rules target the worst homes occupied by the lowest incomes, and the assessment is done on the whole property, not one measure at a time.
Headline award
Whole-house, fully funded
Supplier-funded whole-house retrofits for low-income households in the worst homes.
Illustrative figures.
Typical package value
£12,400
Insulation plus a heating upgrade
Households helped this year
68,900
Across Great Britain
Minimum band improvement
2 bands
Band D and below must reach C or better
Median assessment to install
16 weeks
Survey, plan, funding, works
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
What it pays
There is no cash award. An obligated supplier pays a contractor to deliver a package of measures, and a whole-house plan has to be produced first. The figures below are what those packages typically cost the scheme.
| Measure | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Solid wall insulationExternal or internal. The single largest line in most ECO4 packages, and the hardest to retrofit well. | £8,000–£16,000 | External or internal. The single largest line in most ECO4 packages, and the hardest to retrofit well. |
| Air source heat pumpWhere the property is off the gas grid, or already electrically heated. | £7,000–£11,000 | Where the property is off the gas grid, or already electrically heated. |
| First-time central heatingFor homes heated by individual room heaters, usually the highest-impact measure available. | £4,000–£7,000 | For homes heated by individual room heaters, usually the highest-impact measure available. |
| Loft and cavity insulationRarely funded alone under ECO4 — it has to sit inside a plan that moves the whole property up. | £600–£2,200 | Rarely funded alone under ECO4 — it has to sit inside a plan that moves the whole property up. |
| Heating controlsRoom thermostats and TRVs, fitted alongside any heating work. | £300–£700 | Room thermostats and TRVs, fitted alongside any heating work. |
Current phase ends 31 March 2027
Applications have to be in before 31 March 2027. Schemes with a published end date rarely extend at the last minute, and installer diaries fill up first.
Last checked against these sources on 1 September 2026.
Illustrative. Placeholder figures to show what this page will hold. Real ranges arrive with the quote and performance data behind them.
Who qualifies
Written as the published rules work rather than as the marketing describes them. If one line on the left fails, nothing else matters.
How to apply
Each step carries roughly how long it takes, because the total is what decides whether the work happens this winter or next.
Start with your supplier or your council rather than a doorstep caller. Councils run the flexible eligibility route, which catches households that miss the benefits test but are still in fuel poverty.
A qualified assessor surveys the property and produces a whole-house plan under PAS 2035. This is the step that decides what you are offered.
A contractor matches the plan to an obligated supplier with obligation left to meet. Packages that deliver more band improvement are funded first, which is why identical homes get different answers.
Fabric first, then heating. A package delivered out of order — a heat pump before the insulation — is a sign the plan is being cut short.
A fresh certificate proves the band improvement the funding was claimed against, and is lodged by the retrofit coordinator.
Combining
No scheme will fund the same measure twice. Getting the order right — insulation under one scheme, heating under another — is where the money is.
Two schemes cannot fund the same heat pump. ECO4 can fund the insulation that unlocks a BUS claim later.
Scottish households are normally routed to one or the other, not both, for the same measure.
What changed
Amounts, qualifying benefits and end dates all move. Anything you read about this scheme that predates the most recent entry here should be treated as out of date.
1 April 2023
Councils were given more latitude to refer households that miss the benefits test, which is now the route for roughly a third of packages.
1 April 2025
Packages must now demonstrate a full two-band improvement from band D or worse, ending single-measure loft top-ups under this scheme.
1 April 2026
Suppliers are front-loading delivery before the March 2027 deadline, so waiting lists are shorter now than they are likely to be next spring.
Questions
You do not apply directly to Ofgem. Contact your energy supplier or your local council — the council route, ECO4 Flex, is often the better one because it does not depend on which supplier you happen to be with.
No. Any obligated supplier can fund work in any eligible home, whoever supplies your energy. In practice you go with whichever one a contractor can match your plan to.
For most eligible households, yes. Some packages carry a contribution where the property needs more work than the funding supports — get that figure in writing before the survey stage, not after.
Yes, with the landlord's permission, and the property has to be in band E to G rather than D to G. Landlords cannot be charged a contribution beyond a set cap.
Funding follows the band improvement a plan delivers, not the household. Two identical houses with different starting bands, or different assessors, routinely end up with different packages.
A successor obligation has been signalled but not legislated. Until it is, treat the current phase as the funding that exists, and the one to apply under.
Keep reading
Single insulation measures for lower council tax bands, with no benefits test.
One measure, mostly fundedHow it worksCouncil-run retrofits for low-income households — but only in participating areas.
Up to £30,000How it worksA fixed grant off a heat pump, claimed by your installer and taken off the quote.
£7,500How it worksStart with your postcode. We work from what is already recorded about the property, not from a form you have to fill in.