Funding under ECO 4, ECO 4 Flex and the Great British Insulation Scheme
Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a Government energy efficiency scheme in Great Britain to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. The Government have now also introduced the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) to help reach these targets. These government legislated schemes are there to help us reach our ‘Net Zero’ target by 2050. In the UK, we have several strategies in place to reduce fuel poverty (where a household spends more than 10% of their income on their energy costs), such as the ‘Future homes standard’ which focuses on air source heat pumps as a preferred renewable heating option, and the Home upgrade scheme (HUG) which incentivises households to move their heating system to a renewable air source heat pump, ground source heat pump (or a biomass boiler in rural areas). For more information on these governement policies, see Ofgem’s website here
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-energy-security-and-net-zero
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/
Ofgem alongside the government department DESNZ, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, govern and set the rules for the various strategies and schemes we must adhere to.
Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS)
ECO4 was introduced in July 2022 and GBIS was introduced in April 2023 . Details of the qualifying criteria and measures available are below:
- Your property needs to have an EPC Rating of E, F or G for ECO
- or D, E, F or G for GBIS
- Work carried out on your property under ECO funding needs to significantly improve the energy rating of your home. Some single measures will not improve the energy rating enough, so are unlikely to be offered under ECO4 funding
- For single (or dual for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation) insulation measures and heating control upgrades (for owner occupiers on a qualifying benefit) this can be claimed under GBIS. Anyone can claim GBIS for one insulation measure and upgraded ventilation, funding doesn’t always cover the full cost of the work – but finance is available; links on the bottom of this page for more details.
- ECO 4 eligibility criteria means that a resident in the property is claiming a means tested benefit or Child Benefit (with income thresholds)
- ECO 4 Flex eligibility criteria means a resident has a health condition made worse by the cold or the household income is less than £31k per year.
- Measures available under GBIS are – loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, internal wall insulation, room in roof insulation, under floor insulation.
- Measures available under ECO 4 and ECO 4 flex – for owner occupiers, insulation measures as listed above plus boiler upgrades, renewable heating upgrades, Solar PV and high heat retention storage heaters
Not sure if you qualify?
Contact us and our team will be happy to run through a few questions with you. Alternatively follow the ‘do I qualify’ button for a short quiz on eligibility
If you are interested in applying for finance to cover your contribution towards the work or if you wish to apply for funding for the full cost of measures if you don’t qualify for funding, please follow the link below for more information: