ECO4 funding through bills stops after March 2026

The government decided to stop further funding of ECO4 through consumers' energy bills after March 2026, according to a Commons Library research briefing published on 13 May 2026¹. The same briefing states that major suppliers are either no longer advertising ECO4 or accepting applications¹. The Energy Company Obligation has been extended and will now run until 31 December 2026, to meet existing targets and remediate non-compliant installations¹.

The scheme, which began in April 2022, was funded by a levy on household energy bills, with government setting overall targets and rules². At Budget 2025 the government announced that funding for ECO would end in March 2026, with energy efficiency measures under the scheme continuing until the end of 2026². The government decided to end ECO because it did not represent strong value for money². Between 2013 and December 2025, ECO delivered 4.4 million measures in 2.6 million homes across Great Britain, of which 25% were cavity wall insulation, 21% new boilers, 18% loft insulation, 23% other heating measures, 6% solid wall insulation and 4% other insulation².

The Great British Insulation Scheme, formerly ECO+, closed to applications and was not extended beyond March 2026¹. It had been estimated as a £1 billion obligation on energy suppliers between spring 2023 and March 2026³. As at the end of December 2024, GBIS had delivered 58,975 measures across 46,887 homes, including 24,778 cavity wall insulations, 16,295 loft insulations, 3,254 solid wall insulations and 12,093 heating controls³.

The government published its Warm Homes Plan on 21 January 2026¹. It includes over £5 billion of investment in home upgrades for low-income consumers by 2030, comprising over £4.4 billion grant funding plus £600 million from the Warm Homes Fund targeted at low-income households¹. A separate briefing states the full plan included £15 billion of public investment across the UK over financial years 2025-26 to 2029-30². The Warm Homes Fund will have a total of £5 billion in financial transactions to deploy, including £1.7 billion already allocated to low- and zero-interest consumer loans, supported by £300 million of capital investment, plus £0.6 billion of low-income funding¹. The residual £2.7 billion will be available as innovative finance for investments in and loans to the home upgrade sector¹. Details of the consumer loan offer were not available at the time of writing; in February 2026 the government said it would provide more details "in due course"¹.

"the government decided to stop further funding of ECO4 through consumers' energy bills after March 2026"

Why it matters for households

ECO4 was the main route by which low-income households in England, Scotland and Wales obtained insulation, heating and solar measures at no upfront cost, paid for through a levy on bills rather than taxation². With that funding stopped and suppliers no longer accepting applications, the scheme is no longer a route to a new installation, although it remains open until 31 December 2026 for existing targets and for remediating non-compliant work¹. Households with installations already carried out under ECO4 or GBIS can still seek help with problems; a government review found that 92% of external wall insulation and 27% of internal wall insulation installations under these schemes had at least one major technical non-compliance¹.

For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is a shift in who pays. Support now runs through publicly funded grants and loans rather than a supplier obligation recovered from bills². The Warm Homes Plan's low-income funding is delivered initially through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, which the government intends to merge into a single low-income capital scheme from 2027/28¹. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme continues, with grants of up to £7,500, rising to £9,000 for properties heated by oil and LPG¹.

What happens next

The Warm Homes Agency will begin "initial operations" in 2027, with Salix closing and its functions, alongside some from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and relevant roles in Ofgem, brought into a single executive agency¹. The government has said it will consult this year on bringing oversight of energy efficiency and microgeneration installations for government schemes under closer government control, and on the role of the Warm Homes Agency¹. ECO4 runs to 31 December 2026¹.

Sources3 cited

1. [](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9585/CBP-9585.pdf), researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk
2. [](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9889/CBP-9889.pdf), researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk
3. Energy Company Obligation 4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme: mid-scheme changes - final stage impact assessment - GOV.UK, gov.uk