Energy Company Obligation 4 Flexible Eligibility (ECO4 Flex)

The council are helping residents access home energy efficiency grants.

Due to the Government budget announcement, the ECO4 Scheme is closed to new applications.

The council are helping residents access home energy efficiency grants through the Great British Insulation Scheme and Energy Company Obligation 4 Flexible eligibility (ECO4 flex).

The ECO4 flex scheme allows energy suppliers and installers to offer grants to residents using the eligibility criteria in the Statement of Intent (SOI). A Council must have a published Statement of Intent (PDF) to be able to support the scheme.

Types of energy efficiency measures that can be funded through the scheme

ECO Flex can support a range of home insulation and heating measures. A full assessment of your home will determine what if any measures can be recommended.

Examples include:

wall insulation
loft insulation
heating upgrades

The installer will be required to complete an assessment of your home to provide recommendations of the most suitable energy efficiency measures. Works are not guaranteed even if the householder is eligible.

Eligibility criteria for ECO4 Flex

The scheme will help homeowners and tenants living in homes with poor energy efficiency ratings who also have a low income.

You may be eligible if:

your home has a low Energy Performance Certificate rating (band D-G) and a household income of £31,000 or below
you meet two of the proxy criteria listed in the Statement of Intent
- for example, a person living in the property is entitled to council tax reduction due to low income and a child in the property receives free school meals due to low income
- full proxy criteria can be found in the Statement of Intent
your home has a low Energy Performance Certificate rating (band D-G) and your doctor has identified you have a health condition that could be made worse by living in a cold home
- examples of health conditions include cardiovascular and respiratory conditions

You will be asked to provide evidence of eligibility. This evidence must be in a format agreed by OFGEM.

The eligibility criteria is set out in the Statement of Intent (PDF).

How to apply

At present we are accepting applications via your local energy charity Act on Energy. They will check which is the best funding route for a householder and the applicant is not already applying for other funding available in Worcestershire. The Council do not provide the funding.

Please contact Act on Energy via 0800 988 2881.

Please note that confirmation of eligibility and a survey does not guarantee that funding will be made available within the rules of the scheme.

The installer may require a financial contribution towards the cost of the energy efficiency improvements where the level of the grant is not sufficient to cover the cost of the works.

If you think you might like to apply for energy related measures under the ECO4 Flex scheme, please contact Act on Energy on: 0800 988 2881 or contact us at eco@actonenergy.org.uk

Please note that

The council’s role in the process is just to confirm household eligibility based on the criteria in the Statement of Intent.

Decisions by installers on whether funding can be offered may depend on:

survey carried out by suppliers, or their agents or contractors and installation costs calculated
the energy savings that can be achieved for a property
whether suppliers have achieved, or are close to achieving, their targets, and other commercial considerations.

The Great British Insulation Scheme (BGIS)

The Great British Insulation Scheme is a national scheme to provide funding for single home energy efficiency measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation.

The scheme complements the ECO4 Flex scheme, yet unlike ECO4’s ‘whole house’ approach, this scheme will mostly deliver single insulation measures.

You may be eligible for the scheme if:

your home has a low Energy Performance Certificate rating (band D-G) and is in council tax band A-D
meet the eligibility criteria set out in the current ECO Flex Statement of Intent

If you think you might like to apply for energy related measures under the ECO4 Flex scheme, please contact Act on Energy on: 0800 988 2881 or contact us at eco@actonenergy.org.uk.