Our role is to assess the eligibility of a household and is not involved or responsible for issuing the funding, appointing contractors or installing the works.
Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a requirement placed on 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.
The availability of measures and funding depends on a number of factors, including:
- existing levels of insulation
- amount of the home requiring improvement
- condition and age of the main heating system
- caps placed on certain measures
Please note that the offer available may differ between energy suppliers and installers. Residents may need to be a customer to access support directly via some energy suppliers.
Eligibility criteria
Eligibility depends on income, health conditions or postcode and the energy performance rating of the home.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Households need to meet Energy Performance Certificate requirements:
Homeowners
- Energy performance certificate band D - G
Private tenants
- Energy performance certificate band E - G (Landlords cannot typically rent out a property that doesn't meet the minimum E requirement under Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) legislation).
and
There are two ways to qualify for ECO funding with the qualifying Energy Performance Certificate:
1. Qualifying benefits
Any member of a household needs to be in receipt of one of the following benefits:
- Income based Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
- Income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support (IS)
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
- Working Tax Credit (WTC)
- Child Tax Credits (CTC)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Housing Benefit
- Pension Credit Savings Credit (PCSC)
- Child Benefit - subject to income caps and composition below:
Child Benefit thresholds
| No. of children | Household income threshold | |
|---|---|---|
| Single adult | 1 child | £19,900 |
| Single adult | 2 children | £24,800 |
| Single adult | 3 children | £29,600 |
| Single adult | 4 or more children | £34,500 |
| Couple | 1 child | £27,500 |
| Couple | 2 children | £32,300 |
| Couple | 3 children | £37,200 |
| Couple | 4 or more children | £42,000 |
Applications under these core group benefits route would be made through the resident’s preferred installer (see how to apply) and not through Leicestershire County Council.
2. Qualifying income or health condition (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. It can also widen access to support available under the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS). 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 set by regulator Ofgem and each applicant will be individually assessed based on the published criteria, as set out in the Statement of Intent document below.
Residents will need to qualify into either:
- Route 1: Income of £31,000 or less
- Route 2: A combination of criteria
- Route 3: Qualifying health condition
Please see the Statement of Intent document for full details:
How to apply
1. Qualifying through benefits
To access ECO, residents will need to select a provider or installer:
Accessing provider or installer
If residents are in receipt of qualifying benefits, as outlined under eligibility above, they can apply directly through a provider or installer via Trustmark installers or obligated energy suppliers*
*Please note Leicestershire County Council does not verify or endorse any companies listed.
Evidence requirements
Where applying through the core group benefit criteria the 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.
Benefit checks are not carried out by Leicestershire County Council.
2. Qualify through income or health (ECO Flex)
Leicestershire County Council have been authorised by Ofgem to carry out household eligibility checks on behalf of installers for ECO Flex and GBIS. Eligibility checks will only be carried out on behalf companies who are registered at both the council and TrustMark.
ECO Flex is run by private companies (installers) and the funding for the improvements are awarded by the energy suppliers.
Leicestershire County Council does not verify or endorse any companies and has not carried out any quality checks on work.
Accessing installers
Leicester City residents should apply with their local dedicated offer.
List of installers engaging in Flexible Eligibility mechanism
The flexible eligibility route is now open. Please contact a participating installer from the document below to enquire about Flexible Eligibility:
Leicestershire County Council does not verify or endorse any companies and has not carried out any quality checks on work.
Evidence requirements
Participating installers will arrange a home visit and provide an application form developed by the council to be completed with the homeowner.
Applicants will be required to provide evidence of householder eligibility which will be provided to the council to assess eligibility. We may contact you to verify information provided to us.
Applications
Residents cannot send the application form directly to us. We will only accept applications from the household’s chosen installer.
Once we have confirmed eligibility, we will provide a written declaration that a household qualifies to the installer, who will then pass this onto an energy supplier along with supporting evidence requested by the supplier, such as proof of occupancy/ownership (utility bills etc.).
We charge an administration fee of £50 for each address an installer asks us to assess. This charge covers our checking, processing and approval procedures and is paid by the installer. An installer should not charge the householder an administration fee, however some measures may require a householder contribution.
Advice when engaging with companies
We advise that residents carry out the following steps when engaging with companies.
- Confirm the work in writing, including any payments
- Don't pay for any work in advance
- Get 3 quotes for works
For further information on checks before building work, please see Citizens Advice
Advice when installing energy efficiency measures
Residents are advised to carry out the following sense checks:
- Planning permission or building regulations approval: Certain types of insulation such as external wall insulation might need planning permission and building regulations approval and it is the homeowner/landlord responsibility to apply for this.
- Find out if the installer is a member of a competent person scheme related to electrics or insulation work, like the MCS, NICEIC, CIGA or Stroma schemes. If they are then they will be able to self-certify their work, rather than needing to get building regulations approval from the local council.
- Make sure they are Gas Safe registered. By law all engineers installing gas boilers must be on the Gas Safe Register.
- Check if they have appropriate insurance in place and provide any guarantees or warranties on the installation and make sure these documents are provided and any other associated paperwork upon completion of an install.
- Check if they are on the TrustMark register.
Please note that energy efficient installs should take place in line with Retrofit PAS standards. This involves installers assessing the energy efficiency of the property and addressing the fabric installs first, (ie. loft or wall insulation). As part of this standard the properties ventilation should be assessed, this is important to prevent the build-up of mould.
ECO4 Statement of Intent
Leicestershire County Council is working in partnership with district and borough councils and has published a joint statement of intent:
For information only
More information about the Flexible Eligibility mechanism in Leicestershire is available in the following information sheet:
Further information about ECO funding is available on the Ofgem website.
For information on how we use and store personal data for this scheme, please refer to our privacy notice.
Information for providers and installers
Any provider or installer of ECO funded measures wishing to express interest in and request notification of future flexible eligibility initiatives, please email us at warmhomesecoflex@leics.gov.uk