ECO4 Closes 31 December 2026 · Warm Homes Plan from 2027 | 7,000+ Installations
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💰Earn £100 Per ReferralBy Peter Davies, ECO4 Analyst
Reviewed
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
BN1–BN3
Postcode coverage
SGN
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Brighton & Hove City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Brighton households. Pick whichever applies — you don't need both.
Per gov.uk's Energy Company Obligation page, you qualify if you receive any of:
No qualifying benefit? Brighton & Hove City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in BN1–BN3, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Brighton & Hove City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Brighton & Hove had 135,990 dwellings on the November 2024 valuation list (DLUHC Council Tax stock of properties statistics). The unitary authority has the highest private-rented-sector share of any English city outside London — 33.2% of stock, equivalent to roughly 45,000 PRS dwellings, of which about 75% are one or two bedrooms (ONS Subnational Tenure Estimates 2023). The pre-1919 stock dominates central BN1 (North Laine, Seven Dials, Preston Park), BN2 (Hanover, Kemptown, Queens Park) and BN3 (Brunswick, the Hove squares, Aldrington) — Regency terraces with original sash windows, Victorian three- and four-storey conversions now running as multi-tenancy HMOs for the student and PRS market, and Edwardian bay-fronted villas in Patcham and Preston Park. Outside the central belt, the BN2 Whitehawk, Moulsecoomb and Hollingdean estates plus the BN3 Hangleton and Mile Oak fringes add a large pool of post-war LCC-style semis and 1960s low-rise blocks running on outdated combis or electric storage heaters. The combination — England's largest PRS concentration outside London, plus dense pre-1919 solid-wall stock in the centre, plus post-war social stock on the BN2 and BN3 fringes — makes Brighton an outsized ECO4 target for back-boiler removal, boiler replacement and first-time-central-heating measures.
Total dwellings
135,990
as of 2024-11
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Brighton's mix of pre-1919 and post-war stock is exactly the catchment ECO4 targets. The mandatory PAS 2035 retrofit assessment will confirm the SAP uplift for your specific address.
SGN is the Gas Distribution Network operator for Scotland and Southern England — that includes every BN1–BN3 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Brighton addresses are — there is nothing to pay. ECO4 funds the boiler, internal pipework, controls, meter installation, and safe removal of the old system.
SGN's indicative pricing toolBottom line: Almost every Brighton address (BN1–BN3) is already on the SGN gas main, so the connection cost is £0. The rare off-main cases sit on the outer fringes and pay SGN separately for the new connection.
You may have seen the successor scheme called "ECO5" online — there is no ECO5. The government has abolished the Energy Company Obligation model and replaced it with the Warm Homes Plan — a £15 billion programme funded by public investment rather than levies on energy bills. ECO4 still runs until 31 December 2026, so Brighton households should apply now while the scheme is open.
Low-income grants
£4.4 bn
Warm Homes Social Housing Fund + Local Grant
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
£7,500
per household, clean-heat grant
Delivery moves from Ofgem to a new Warm Homes Agency, with the Social Housing Fund and Local Grant consolidating into a single low-income capital scheme by 2027/28.
Sources: gov.uk — Warm Homes Plan (updated 18 March 2026); Ofgem response to the Warm Homes Plan.
Bottom line: ECO4 closes 31 December 2026. The Warm Homes Plan replaces it from 2027 — apply now while the current scheme is still open and the £4,000–£8,000 install value is fully funded.
Property
1880s mid-terrace, solid-brick walls, three-storey with attic conversion, four-bed HMO let on individual room rents
Existing system
Working but ageing 1990s non-condensing combi in the basement kitchen, no programmable controls, single uncontrolled zone for the whole house; EPC band E
Measure installed
Old combi decommissioned and recycled; new wall-hung A-rated condensing combi sited in the same position with a fresh balanced flue; TRVs fitted across the 1st, 2nd and attic radiators; programmable smart controls fitted in the entrance hall.
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band E to band C; first-winter gas demand reduced by roughly a quarter; landlord paid £0 (property qualified via the private-rental EPC E-G route, with a tenant on Universal Credit triggering the household-benefit gate).
Time on site
Two days on site for the new install plus half a day for the controls and TRV commissioning.
Illustrative — based on typical BN1–BN3 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Brighton installs deliver a two-band EPC uplift in a single intervention at £0 to the qualifying household. Your individual case depends on the PAS 2035 assessment, but the BN2 Hanover pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Brighton addresses are already on the gas main — nothing extra to pay.
Bottom line: If your ECO4 application is approved, the install is £0 — typical install value £4,000–£8,000. The only out-of-pocket case is a brand-new gas-main connection from off-grid, which is uncommon in Brighton.
Run our wizard or call +44 7375 868046.
A free home survey by an accredited assessor confirms the right measure for your property.
Gas Safe install, building-control sign-off, lodged on the TrustMark Data Warehouse.
Prefer to contact Brighton & Hove City Council directly?
Installer chain verified via TrustMark and Ofgem ECO4 Delivery Guidance v4.0.
Bottom line: From the 49-second eligibility check to a commissioned boiler, a typical Brighton ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Yes. Brighton & Hove City Council operates ECO4 Flex through its in-house Housing Sustainability and Energy Team. The current Statement of Intent (v2, published 8 April 2026, signed by Miles Davidson, Sustainability and Energy Manager (Housing)) sets out four routes: Route 1 is gross household income under £31,000; Route 2 is a combination of two of six proxies (LSOA deciles 1-3, Council Tax Reduction excluding single-person rebates, NICE NG6 cold-vulnerability, free school meals, or an energy-supplier / Citizens Advice referral); Route 3 is an NHS/GP-identified cold-home vulnerability with income disregarded. Brighton & Hove does NOT operate the bespoke Route 4. The SoI is standalone — NOT joint with neighbouring Adur, Worthing or Lewes DCs, which maintain their own SoIs. Contact: housingsustainabilityandenergyteam@brighton-hove.gov.uk (email only — the council does not publish a public phone number for ECO4 enquiries).
SGN (Southern Gas Networks) is the GDN for the South-East, including all BN1-BN3 postcodes. ECO4 covers the new boiler, internal pipework, meter installation and removal of the old system at no cost. The connection from your meter to the SGN gas main is separate, but Brighton's dense urban grid means almost every address is already on the gas main and there is nothing extra to pay. The rare off-main cases (typically new infill plots on the South Downs fringe) range from around £500 for a short distance up to £2,500+ for longer routes. SGN's postcode checker tool gives a per-property estimate.
Only if it is non-condensing or broken. ECO4 is governed by Ofgem's SAP-modelled efficiency uplift rules — a working A-rated condensing boiler in a Hanover or Brunswick terrace will not qualify because the SAP improvement would be too small to score. A 1970s-1990s non-condensing combi or a back boiler behind a tiled gas fire — both still common across BN1 North Laine, BN2 Hanover/Kemptown and BN3 Brunswick — is the typical qualifying case. The retrofit assessment (PAS 2035) confirms the band uplift before the install is approved.
Yes — and a landlord can decline, but cannot evict you or raise the rent for asking. Brighton & Hove has the highest private-rented-sector share of any English city outside London at 33.2% (ONS Subnational Tenure Estimates 2023), so this comes up constantly here. Private rental properties qualify at EPC band E-G (one band stricter than the D-G rule for owner-occupiers) and the upgrade improves the landlord's asset at no cost. With the forthcoming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards uplift to EPC C looming for the PRS, most South-Coast landlords are inclined to say yes. Our installer team handles the landlord-consent paperwork, including any party-wall sign-off needed inside an HMO conversion.
Yes — this is First-Time Central Heating (FTCH), one of the highest-scoring measures under ECO4 because moving from Economy 7 storage heaters to a gas combi typically jumps the EPC two bands in a single intervention. Most BN2 Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb ex-council blocks are connected to the SGN gas main at the riser even where individual flats are not yet metered for gas. ECO4 covers the boiler, the full radiator set, the pipework and the removal of the existing electric heaters. Expect three to five days on site, with temporary heating provided where needed.
From the eligibility check to a commissioned new boiler, a typical Brighton job runs five to seven weeks. The eligibility pass takes 49 seconds. The PAS 2035 retrofit assessment is usually booked within ten working days, with surveyors operating across central Brighton, Hove and the eastern fringes through to Saltdean and Woodingdean. The install itself is two to three days for a standard combi swap — longer for first-time central heating or back-boiler removal because the chimney has to be capped to building-control standards, adding about a day.
ECO4 closes 31 December 2026. After that, the £15 billion Warm Homes Plan takes over from April 2027 — funded by public investment rather than energy-bill levies, and delivered by the new Warm Homes Agency rather than Ofgem (gov.uk Warm Homes Plan, updated 18 March 2026). You may have seen the successor scheme called 'ECO5' online — that name is not used by government and no scheme by that title exists. For Brighton households, the practical effect is straightforward: if you apply under ECO4 before the 31 December 2026 close, the install is funded under ECO4 even if the engineer's visit happens in early 2027; if you start a fresh application after 1 January 2027, you'll be routed through the Warm Homes Local Grant (WHLG), the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund, or the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme depending on your tenure and property. Your local council's energy team continues to handle the referral throughout the transition.
gov.uk — Energy Company Obligation (ECO4)
Qualifying benefits and EPC band rules
Ofgem — ECO4 Delivery Guidance v4.0 (March 2026)
Scheme closure 31 December 2026, measure rules
gov.uk — Warm Homes Plan
£15bn ECO4 successor scheme, updated 18 March 2026
Brighton & Hove City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2026-04-08
Brighton & Hove City Council — ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent
LA Flex thresholds and vulnerability criteria
SGN — new gas connection page
GDN-side connection-cost guidance
DLUHC — Council Tax: stock of properties (England), November 2024
Dwelling counts for Brighton (2024-11)
ONS — Energy efficiency of housing in England and Wales (2023)
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. BN1–BN3 households on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, PIP, ESA, JSA, Income Support, Housing Benefit or Child Benefit — start here. Apply under ECO4 now (closes 31 December 2026); the Warm Homes Plan (sometimes searched as "ECO5") replaces it from April 2027.
