The Great British Insulation Scheme has launched, administered by Ofgem, and will run until March 2026. More than 300,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales are in line to benefit, according to the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, with the potential to reduce annual energy bills by an average of £4001.
The scheme, formerly known as ECO+, places an obligation on medium and large energy suppliers to carry out measures aimed at curbing energy usage1. It is the supplier obligation, rather than a direct grant to householders, that delivers the work. IGEM describes the primary driver behind the investment as the mounting energy costs and the government's commitment to alleviating fuel poverty while working towards net zero emissions targets1.
"More than 300,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales are in line to benefit from the newly launched Great British Insulation Scheme"
Households can use an online eligibility checker, which asks about aspects of the home such as heating methods and wall types, and whether the occupant receives any benefits1. The scheme sits alongside other support routes, and the differences between them are set out in our comparison of the Great British Insulation Scheme and ECO4 and of the Warm Homes: Local Grant and GBIS. Eligibility rules, including the benefit and property criteria the checker applies, are covered in our guide to Great British Insulation Scheme eligibility.
The £400 average saving figure is given as an average across the homes expected to benefit, not a guaranteed sum for any individual property. The sources do not report a breakdown of funding by nation, a list of the specific insulation measures that suppliers must install, or the number of homes treated so far. Those details have not been reported1.
Why it matters for households
Insulation reduces the rate at which a home loses heat, so a given level of warmth requires less energy input. For a household, that shifts the balance between what is bought from a supplier and what the building itself retains, which is the practical basis of insulation and energy independence. The scheme's stated aim of curbing energy usage places it in that territory: less demand per home, and less exposure to the price of each unit consumed.
The £400 average figure indicates the scale of saving the scheme's promoters associate with the measures, though actual savings vary with the property, the measures installed and how the home is heated. Our guide to how much insulation saves on energy bills sets out the factors involved. Because the obligation falls on suppliers, the route to the work runs through an energy company rather than a standalone government payment, and the eligibility checker is the entry point described1.
Coverage differs by nation, and the devolved grant routes are set out separately for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the England position in our guide to insulation and glazing grants in England.
What happens next
The scheme runs until March 20261. No interim milestones, annual targets or review dates are reported in the source material.