Act on Energy, an independent energy advice charity, has reported that three government-backed home energy schemes are closed. In a page last updated on 18 September 2024, the charity states that ECO4, ECO Flex and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) have all stopped accepting applications, and that they are waiting on the next announcement of the Warm Homes Plan from UK Government1.
The charity's own wording is brief and covers all three schemes in a single line:
"ECO4, ECO Flex and GBIS are now closed awaiting the next announcement of the Warm Homes Plan from UK Government."
The three schemes affected are the current phase of the Energy Company Obligation, its local authority flexible route, and the insulation-focused scheme that ran alongside it. ECO4 and ECO Flex are supplier-funded routes, while GBIS was set up to deliver insulation measures to a wider group of households. The page does not give a closing date for any of the three, and no end date, application cut-off or final number of households served has been reported1.
The same page continues to list other support that remains open, including the Oil and LPG Energy Support Scheme, the Birmingham Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warwickshire Crisis and Resilience Fund for oil and LPG users1. Those are separate from the three closed schemes and are administered locally.
Why it matters for households
For a household that was part-way through an ECO4, ECO Flex or GBIS application, or was planning to apply, the practical position is that the route described on this page is shut until the government sets out what comes next. The closure covers the supplier-funded obligation and the insulation scheme together, so the two main national routes for funded insulation and heating measures are affected at the same time1.
Energy independence at home rests on the fabric of the building: insulation, draught-proofing and an efficient heating system reduce how much energy a household has to buy and how exposed it is to price movements. Schemes of this kind are one of the ways those improvements have been funded for households that could not pay for them outright. With the routes closed, the funding position for that work is unresolved until the Warm Homes Plan is announced1.
The page does not say whether applications already submitted will still be processed, whether vouchers or referrals already issued remain valid, or what will replace the three schemes. None of that has been reported1. Households looking at the wider landscape of grants can compare the closed schemes with what remains available through council and local authority energy grants and crisis and hardship funds for energy, and can check which benefits qualify for energy grants where eligibility is the question.
What happens next
The next step named by Act on Energy is the UK Government's announcement of the Warm Homes Plan. No date for that announcement is given on the page, and no timetable for reopening any of the three schemes has been reported1. The page was last updated on 18 September 2024 at 13:291.
Sources1 cited
- Energy Company Obligation 4 Scheme | Act on Energy, actonenergy.org.uk