Energy Company Obligation - home energy efficiency

Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a requirement placed upon energy companies to help improve the domestic energy efficiency of lower income homes. The scheme runs in phases and entered its fourth phase ECO4 in July 2022 and runs until 31 March 2026.

To find out if you are eligible for ECO measures consider searching a competent person register such as TrustMark* to find an installer that will assess your circumstances and property to identify suitable measures.

Many installers partner with obligated energy suppliers to deliver measures – you may be able to apply directly through an energy supplier*

The availability of measures and funding is dependent on a number of factors including existing levels of insulation and the proportion of the home requiring improvement, condition and age of the main heating system and caps placed on certain measures.

Please note that the offer available may differ between energy suppliers and installers. You may need to be a customer to access support directly via some energy suppliers.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility is dependent on income and energy performance rating of the home.

Households need to meet Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) requirements:

Homeowners

• Band D - G

Private tenants

• Band E - G (Landlords cannot typically rent out a property that does not meet the minimum E requirement under Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) legislation.

Householders

There are two ways you can qualify for ECO funding:

1. In receipt of qualifying benefits (Affordable Warmth criteria)

Any member of a household needs to be in receipt of one of the following. Under ECO4, the qualifying benefits for grants are expected to be:

• Income based Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
• Income related Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support (IS)
• Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
• Working Tax Credit (WTC)
• Child Tax Credits (CTC)
• Universal Credit (UC)
• Housing Benefit (new eligible benefit under ECO4)
• Pension Credit Savings Credit (new eligible benefit under ECO4)

or

Receive Child Benefit with a household income within the following thresholds:

• A single adult with 1 child: £19,800
• A single adult with 2 children: £24,600
• A single adult with 3 children: £29,400
• A single adult with 4 or more children: £34,200
• Couple with 1 child: £27,300
• Couple with 2 children: £32,100
• Couple with 3 children: £36,900
• Couple with 4 or more children: £41,700

Where applying through Affordable Warmth criteria your chosen installer/supplier will advise on seeking evidence of eligible benefits being claimed within the household, often this can be done with consent to a check via the Department for Work and Pensions.

If a member of your household is in receipt of Affordable Warmth benefits listed above, you will be directed to apply under these criteria directly with your preferred installer. You do not need to apply via the Local authority ECO Flex scheme mentioned below.

2. Local Authority Flexible Eligibility (ECO Flex)

Flexible Eligibility or ‘ECO Flex’ is designed to allow councils to set criteria to assist those who would fall outside of the normal ECO eligibility criteria but may still need financial assistance to make heating their home more affordable. This eligibility route is only applicable to private sector housing.

Leicestershire County Council has published eligibility criteria for residents living in the county. Eligibility is dependent on a combination of factors such as income, property characteristics, health and household energy efficiency following guidelines set by regulator Ofgem and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Each applicant is individually assessed based on our published criteria, as set out in the Statement of Intent document, below:

ECO4 Statement of Intent

We will be publishing our Statement of Intent in due course.

Accessing support via Flexible Eligibility

Leicestershire authorities are currently identifying the delivery model for ECO4 Flexible Eligibility (applicable to those under criteria 2 above). We will publish more information in the near future.

In the meantime, if you're in receipt of benefits, as outlined within criteria 1 above, you can still apply directly via TrustMark installers or obligated energy suppliers.

*Please note Leicestershire County Council does not verify or endorse any companies listed.