Grants and funding

Grants and
Funding

Benefits that are eligible under ECO4

We are experts on potential funding options under the two main Government schemes currently running.

The two main funding schemes running are The Energy Company Obligation and The Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

ECO is a government initiative that obligates the largest utility companies to fund energy saving measures with a view to reducing energy usage from domestic properties across Britain. The current commitment runs from 2022-2026 and is known as ECO4.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) divides into two ways of obtaining funding.

ECO HHCRO

To be eligible for HHCRO you need to fall under the national criteria set by the Government. If ANY member of the household is in receipt of a qualifying state benefit and your home has an EPC rating of E-G for privately rented properties or D-G for owner occupied properties, then chances are you will be eligible for ECO funding.

Benefits that are eligible under ECO4

Income based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
Income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Income Support (IS)
Pension Credit Guarantee Credit (PCGC)
Working Tax Credit (WTC)
Child Tax Credit (CTC)
Universal Credit (UC)
Housing Benefit
Pension Credit Savings Credit (PCSC)
Child Benefit

*Child benefit is an eligible HHCRO benefit, but an income cap applies. Please see below for the income thresholds:

Type of claimant Number of children or qualifying young persons

4 or more

Single claimant

£19,900

£24,800

£29,600

£34,500

Member of a couple

£27,500

£32,300

£37,200

£42,000

ECO LA Flex

To be eligible for LA Flex you would need to meet the criteria of one of the four routes below. We would apply for this on your behalf through your local authority.

Route 1

Route 2

Route 3

Route 4

Route 1

Route 2

Route 3

Route 4

As the criteria is set by your local council this largely takes away the need to be in receipt of benefits and focuses on criterion such as children, pregnancy, the elderly (over 65) or households with a member who is suffering from ill health. Please get in touch if you have any queries regarding your eligibility.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS)

The government has recently launched the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, providing grants of £5000 to encourage property owners to install low carbon heating systems such as Air Source heat pumps. These grants can help property owners overcome the upfront cost of low carbon heating technologies. The scheme is open to domestic and small non-domestic properties in England and Wales and it runs from 2022 to 2025. Again, we can apply for this on your behalf if the owner and property criteria below is met:

Owner Eligibility Criteria

You will need to be an owner occupier living in England or Wales. *Private landlords and second-home owners are also eligible

Property Eligibility Criteria

The scheme is open to domestic and small non-domestic properties with:

An installation capacity up to 45kWth (this covers most homes)
A current energy performance certificate (EPC), with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation
An existing fossil fuel heating system (such as oil, gas or electric) that will be fully replaced by the new low carbon heating system

You can still apply for BUS if you are claiming other grants or funding for energy efficiency upgrades such as insulation, doors or windows.

Proposed Energy Efficiency Scheme – ECO Plus

ECO Plus is a proposed scheme to help assist homes that are not eligible for ECO4 and classified as able to pay.

ECO Plus is still in development, but if approved, would provide partially subsidised energy efficiency measures to households not suitable for EC04.

While ECO4 currently gives vital support to qualifying households, it doesn’t have any schemes available to those households who are able to pay

ECO Plus would be a separate supplementary scheme to ECO4, not impacting the current support for fuel poor households. Both low cost and high cost measures could be covered, with an expected contribution from the scheme of around 50% of the cost, and a total annual budget of around £1bn.

With support on this scale over 3 years, ECO Plus could support over 2 million households. With the cost of energy now massively increasing from October 2022, the payback period for any investments is reduced, making this scheme even more attractive to households seeking better home insulation.