ECO4 ends on 31 December 2026: what replaces it
Last checked 30 September 2026 against Ofgem, GOV.UK and DESNZ guidance.
The ECO4 scheme closes on 31 December 2026 and there will be no replacement supplier obligation. From January, the main remaining route for funded home energy upgrades in England is the Warm Homes: Local Grant.
That scheme is not new. It has been running since April 2025 and is funded to March 2028. What changes at the end of December is that ECO4 stops, so for many households the Local Grant becomes the only option left.
Which nations these schemes cover
- ECO4 covers Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. Not Northern Ireland.
- The Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only.
- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own schemes — Home Energy Scotland, Nest, and the Affordable Warmth Scheme.
- The Boiler Upgrade Scheme covers England and Wales.
What is actually changing
ECO4 is funded by obligated energy suppliers under the Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation. Ofgem administers it for DESNZ, and TrustMark oversees the quality of the work. Suppliers must meet their obligations by 31 December 2026, and the government has confirmed there will be no successor obligation and no carry-over.
The Warm Homes: Local Grant works differently. It is funded by government, allocated to councils, and delivered by councils rather than energy suppliers. Each council gets its own allocation and decides how to spend it.
Who qualifies for the Warm Homes: Local Grant
There are three pathways. You need to meet only one:
- Your postcode falls in Indices of Multiple Deprivation income deciles 1 or 2. No income check needed.
- You receive a specified means-tested benefit, or meet the ECO4 Flex low-income proxy criteria.
- Your gross household income is £36,000 or less. Slightly above it, an After Housing Costs threshold may still qualify you.
So this is not simply a switch from benefits to income. Benefits are still a route; income is an additional one.
The property also needs an EPC rating of D to G, which is a SAP score of 68 or below, and must be privately owned — owner-occupied or privately rented. All heating fuels are eligible. Landlords get the full grant on a first property and 50% on each additional one.
What it pays for
Two separate pots, each capped at £15,000 per property:
- Energy performance — wall, roof and floor insulation, draught-proofing, glazing, smart controls, solar panels and battery storage.
- Low-carbon heating — air source and ground source heat pumps, hybrid heat pumps, high heat retention storage heaters, biomass boilers.
Solar and batteries sit in the energy performance pot, not the heating pot. Several other guides have this the wrong way round.
The caps are averages across a council's whole project, not a personal entitlement. A council can spend more or less on any one home provided the average holds. Your council appoints TrustMark-accredited installers — you do not choose your own, and you do not receive cash.
If you are mid-way through an ECO4 application
The deadline is firm. The nine-month extension that moved the end date from 31 March 2026 to 31 December 2026 was granted so suppliers could finish existing commitments and close the scheme in an orderly way. It was not extra funding, and there will be no further extension.
If your installation is not completed and reported by 31 December 2026, your application ends there. There is no automatic transfer into the Warm Homes: Local Grant — different bodies, different rules, so you would need a fresh application to your council.
What is not confirmed is how councils will treat homes surveyed under ECO4 that missed the cut-off. Assume you will need a new assessment until your council tells you otherwise.
What to do now: ask your installer for a committed completion date, not a start date. If they cannot commit to finishing before the end of December, look at the Local Grant route in parallel.
If you do not qualify
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has no income test. The Warm Home Loans scheme is expected to phase in from 2027 for households above the grant thresholds.