ECO4 Eligibility: Benefits, Tenure and Property Conditions

ECO4 is the fourth round of the Energy Company Obligation, a government scheme that obliges medium and large energy suppliers to fund insulation, heating upgrades and some renewable technologies in homes that need them most. It is administered by Ofgem, the energy regulator, and it applies to measures installed from 1 April 2022¹. The obligation period itself runs from 27 July 2022 to 31 December 2026, split into four phases³.

Eligibility rests on three pillars: who lives in the home (a means-tested benefit, or a low income identified by a local authority), what the home is (an Energy Performance Certificate in band D to G, with band C or above excluded), and who owns it (owner-occupier, private tenant or social housing, each with its own route). This page sets out each condition in turn, what evidence a household is asked for, and what happens when a case does not fit neatly into any route.

The ECO4 scheme explained and who runs it

The Energy Company Obligation is now in its fourth iteration, known as ECO4⁸. It was launched in 2022⁹ and is enacted by the Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2022, as amended⁷. Ofgem is the scheme administrator¹⁰, and the scheme requires medium and large energy suppliers to support energy efficiency improvements for eligible households¹¹. Suppliers, not the government, carry the cost, which is why the scheme is often described as supplier-funded rather than a direct grant.

The scheme's stated objective is to reduce fuel poverty by improving the least energy efficient housing stock occupied by low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households⁹. In practical terms, that means ECO4 money is deliberately pointed at hard-to-heat homes: properties in EPC bands D to G occupied by people on low incomes, rather than at homes that are already efficient or households on comfortable earnings⁴.

Ofgem runs the scheme through an IT system called the ECO4 Register, which suppliers use to notify and manage completed measures and projects and to submit applications for approvals and transfers³. Each measure cannot be approved as a qualifying action until the Certificate of Lodgement for that measure has been issued for the relevant project³. For a fuller picture of how the obligation works across its rounds, see the Energy Company Obligation and the current scheme page, ECO4.

Eligible benefits plus the £31,000 income threshold

The main route into ECO4 is receipt of a means-tested benefit. The benefits that qualify a household include Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit (either Guaranteed Credit or Savings Credit), Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits, Housing Benefit, and Child Benefit where income thresholds apply⁴. Income-related Employment and Support Allowance is confirmed as a qualifying benefit on the Affordable Warmth route¹².

A household claiming any of these, living in a property with an EPC rating of D, E, F or G, is in the core eligible group⁴. This benefits route is often called the Help to Heat Group, and it sits alongside the other routes on the official eligibility declaration: Help to Heat Group, Social Housing, LA Flex, In-Fill and Supplier Flex¹³.

For households on no qualifying benefit, there is an income route. Under ECO4 Flexible Eligibility, households with a total combined gross annual income from all sources of less than £31,000 can be referred, irrespective of property size, composition or region¹⁴. The same £31,000 figure appears in Ofgem's delivery guidance for Flex Route 1⁷ and in the guidance aimed directly at homeowners and tenants⁶. Some councils describe the same route as being for households with a gross household income of under £31,000¹¹, and Essex applies the same threshold to homeowners, private tenants and landlords in its area¹⁶.

If a household's income sits above £31,000 and no qualifying benefit is claimed, the flexible eligibility process may still offer a way in, for example where someone in the home has a qualifying medical condition¹. The flexible routes are covered in more detail below. For a wider view of which benefits open doors to energy support generally, see benefits that qualify for energy grants, and for the benefits route in detail, ECO4 qualifying benefits.

Why your current EPC rating matters most

The property test is as important as the household test. Only properties in EPC band D to G can be treated¹⁷, and Ofgem's delivery guidance states the exclusion plainly: "Properties with a starting SAP band of C or above are not eligible under ECO4."⁵ A home must therefore be inefficient enough to need the help, but not so efficient that the scheme's money would be better spent elsewhere.

The starting band also determines how far the property must be improved. Properties with a starting EPC band of F or G must be improved to at least a band D, while properties starting in band E or D must be improved to a band C¹⁴. Derbyshire's guidance puts the same rule in household terms: if the existing EPC is a D or E, it must be able to be improved to a C; if it is an F or G, it needs to be able to be improved to a D⁴. A property that cannot realistically reach those thresholds will not attract funding, because the amount of ECO funding a property attracts depends on the improvement made to the original EPC⁴.

There are further property conditions. Eligible dwellings are pre-existing buildings erected before 1 April 2022⁵. Houses in multiple occupation can be treated as part of ECO4 if at least one household occupying the HMO is eligible to receive ECO support⁷. The pre-installation declaration records the starting SAP band in fine detail, split into high and low halves of each band from B to G¹³, which reflects how precisely the scoring works. How projects are scored and what they must achieve is covered in ECO4 scoring and minimum requirements.

Flexible routes for households on low incomes

ECO4's purpose is to reach households that the benefits test misses: those living in fuel poverty or on a low income and vulnerable to the effects of living in a cold home¹⁷. The Flexible Eligibility component, known as ECO4 Flex, allows local authorities to identify and refer consumers living in private tenure properties who are considered low income, fuel poor or vulnerable to the cold¹⁸. It exists as a household referral mechanism within the wider ECO4 scheme for households not in receipt of a means-tested benefit¹⁴.

There are four separate qualifying routes to identify low income and vulnerable households under Flex¹⁹:

1. Route 1: owner-occupied households in SAP bands D to G and private rented households in bands E to G with a gross annual income less than £31,000, irrespective of property size, composition or region²⁰.
2. Route 2: households in EPC bands E to G that meet at least two proxies from a set set out in the local authority's statement of intent. One example is Proxy 4, a householder receiving free school meals due to low income²⁰.
3. Route 3: households identified and referred by a GP, a Health Board or an NHS trust¹⁴.
4. Route 4 (bespoke targeting): suppliers and local authorities can submit an application to the department where they have identified new methods to identify low income and vulnerable households, demonstrating with evidence that the methodology is more effective than Routes 1 and 2²¹.

Route 1 is the simplest to self-check against a payslip. Route 2 is where a household whose income is just above the threshold may still succeed, if enough proxies apply. Route 3 matters for people with health conditions made worse by cold, and Route 4 exists for councils and suppliers that have found better ways of targeting than the standard routes allow. Suppliers may provide evidence for Routes 2 and 4¹⁹.

Each council that participates publishes a statement of intent describing which routes it operates and how it decides referrals¹⁵. Leeds, for example, states that ECO4 focuses on supporting low income and vulnerable households, improving the least energy efficient homes²². The detail varies from council to council, so a household refused under one authority's rules may find a neighbouring authority takes a different view. The flexible route is explained in full at ECO4 Flex.

Homeownership status and rented property rules

ECO4 recognises three tenures on its eligibility paperwork: owner occupied, private rented, and social housing²³. The rules differ between them.

Owner-occupiers have the widest access. Measures delivered to occupants of the Help to Heat Group or identified through ECO4 Flex must be delivered to private domestic premises, meaning domestic premises not owned or let by a social landlord¹⁹. Owner-occupied homes in SAP band D to G are eligible for the full range of measures⁷.

Private tenants can also qualify. The scheme is available for private owner occupiers and private rented properties that meet the necessary eligibility criteria¹¹, and a tenant must have the permission of their landlord for work to proceed¹⁴. If you rent from a private landlord, the house must have an energy efficiency rating of E, F or G to be eligible⁸. Private rented sector properties occupied by a member of the Help to Heat Group, or by a person declared eligible by the local authority, are eligible in bands E, F and G⁵. Private landlords can only access ECO to replace an old heating system with a renewable heating system if the existing EPC is an E, F or G⁴.

Social housing is handled differently. It is eligible through its own route, based on the property's EPC band rather than the occupant's income or benefits, and only in certain bands²³. One boundary rule is worth knowing: where social housing is let at or above the market rate, the property can be treated as a private domestic premises, provided the occupant meets the eligibility requirements²⁴.

The scheme carries a tenure-based target that shapes where suppliers direct their effort: suppliers must upgrade a minimum equivalent of 150,000 private tenure band E, F and G homes under ECO4⁵. That figure was set in the government response that established the scheme²⁵ and is repeated in the current delivery guidance⁵. It explains why the least efficient privately owned or privately rented homes are the most likely to attract offers.

Measures funded under the scheme

ECO4 funding pays for energy efficiency measures such as heating improvements and insulation¹. Under the scheme, obligated energy suppliers are required to reduce heating costs for low income and vulnerable households by funding energy efficiency, insulation and heating measures¹⁴. Councils describe the offer in similar terms: insulation, boilers and central heating, and solar and renewable energy technologies¹¹.

The eligible measures list is broad. Ofgem's measures table covers boiler upgrades to non-renewable and renewable heating systems, repair or replacement of broken heating systems, first time central heating, electric storage heater upgrades, repairs or replacement, connection to a district heating system, heating controls, solar PV, wall, roof, floor and loft insulation, draught proofing, window glazing and higher performance external doors⁵. Under Flex specifically, examples include solid wall insulation, cavity wall insulation, room in roof insulation, loft insulation, flat roof insulation, electric storage heater upgrades, first time central heating to an air source heat pump, boiler upgrades from oil, LPG and solid fuel to an air source heat pump, and solar photovoltaic panels¹⁴.

Smart technologies and flexible heating systems are eligible to apply for a new ECO4 measure type and score, but all smart technologies must provide evidence of space heating cost savings²⁶. The scheme's focus throughout is on supporting low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households²⁶.

One caution belongs here. Eligibility for ECO does not necessarily mean an energy supplier or installer will decide to install measures in a particular home⁴. What a household receives depends on the survey, the property's improvement potential and the supplier's own delivery decisions. For the specific questions householders ask most often, see ECO4 free boiler grants, ECO4 heat pump funding and solar panels through ECO4.

How to apply and handle unclear cases

Applications are not made to Ofgem. They run through obligated energy suppliers, their installers, or the local authority's flexible eligibility process. Households wishing to apply for ECO4 Flex funding should contact their council's approved Flex providers or agents¹⁴. Councils such as Essex frame the basic test simply: you must be living in the area and be a homeowner, private tenant or landlord¹⁶.

The paperwork a household will meet is standardised. The eligibility requirements form records the tenure (owner occupied, private rented or social housing) and the eligibility route, listing LA Flex and Supplier Flex among them²³. The pre-installation declaration lists the routes as Help to Heat Group, Social Housing, LA Flex, In-Fill and Supplier Flex, and records the starting SAP band¹³. In practice a household will be asked for evidence of the benefit claimed, or of income for the Flex routes, and the property will be surveyed to establish its starting band.

Evidence matters after the installation as well as before it. Ofgem expects evidence of eligibility to be retained for up to 3 years following the end of the scheme⁷, and applications and declarations may be subject to Ofgem audits during the time ECO4 is in effect and up to three years after the schemes end¹⁴. A household that has been honest in its declaration has nothing to fear from this, but it is the reason installers ask for documents rather than taking claims on trust.

Where a case is unclear, the practical answer is to ask the local authority. Councils participating in Flex can refer owner-occupiers and private tenants they consider to be living in fuel poverty or on a low income and vulnerable to the effects of a cold home¹⁷, and ECO4 allows local authorities to identify the most vulnerable households who could benefit from improvements⁸. A household turned down by a supplier on the benefits route may still be referred by the council, and vice versa. If a case falls between routes, Route 4 exists precisely for suppliers and councils that can show a better way of identifying households the standard routes miss²¹.

Timing is worth knowing. Once measures are approved, the required ECO4 Register update to enable the measure number notification takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks²⁶. Suppliers may request an extension for a project at any time before the deadline of five months after the date of completion of installation of the first measure in that project³.

Scheme limits and what comes afterwards

ECO4 was originally due to end on 31 March 2026²⁷, and some council guidance still carries that date, noting there was no subsequent ECO5 replacement planned¹⁴. The government consulted on extending the end date²⁷, and the scheme now runs until 31 December 2026, following a nine-month extension².

The ending has consequences for new applications. Birmingham City Council's end-of-ECO announcement states that no new applications can be funded²⁸, and government guidance for energy suppliers refers to the ending of funding for the scheme²⁸. A household reading this page should treat the closing window as a live constraint: the later an application starts, the greater the risk that the scheme closes before the work is completed.

What follows is a changing landscape rather than a single replacement scheme. The Great British Insulation Scheme runs alongside ECO4 and shares its flexible eligibility machinery¹⁸, and the successor programmes set out in the Warm Homes Plan, including the Warm Homes: Local Grant, are covered elsewhere on this site. For the full picture of what is open now, start at the grants and schemes hub.

For a household's energy independence, ECO4 is a genuine transfer of value: supplier-funded insulation, heating and generation that reduce running costs and dependence on imported energy for the least efficient homes. What it does not remove is the household's dependence on the supplier delivering the work, the installer's survey judgement, and the scheme's own deadlines. The conditions on this page are the price of that funding, and they are applied without much discretion.