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
Yes — if you live in CB1–CB5 and either claim a qualifying benefit (Universal Credit, Pension Credit, PIP, ESA, Income Support, Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit) with an EPC of band D–G, or you meet Cambridge City Council's tighter LA Flex income test (£20,000 single / £30,000 couple, savings under £20,000), you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Cambridge is on the Cadent East of England gas network. Note: Cambridge's LA Flex test is more restrictive than most English councils' standard £31,000-irrespective-of-composition threshold.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
CB1–CB5
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Cambridge City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Cambridge 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? Cambridge City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in CB1–CB5, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Cambridge City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Cambridge's housing reflects the city's rapid 19th-century railway-and-university growth and an unusually constrained 20th-century footprint (the Green Belt has kept the city compact). The Victorian and Edwardian terrace cohort fills Mill Road's Sturton Town (CB1, built from 1850) and Romsey Town (CB1, 1880s onwards) — typical two-up two-down workers' cottages through to larger family terraces and grander town houses, all within walking distance of the railway station and the colleges. The inter-war picture adds the 1930s semi-detached belt in West Chesterton (CB4), Arbury (CB4), King's Hedges (CB4) and parts of east-of-the-Castle. The post-war picture adds Cambridge City Homes ex-council estates at Arbury, King's Hedges, Cherry Hinton (CB1) and parts of Trumpington (CB2) — typically inter-war and 1960s/70s housing, mostly cavity-walled. Modern: Cambridge City Council has invested heavily in new council housing since 2017 (King's Hedges 75 homes; Cherry Hinton 115 homes; Romsey 118 council + 118 market) so the publicly-rented stock is shifting fast. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the Mill Road / Romsey / Cherry Hinton Victorian terrace belt and the older Arbury / King's Hedges social-rented stock — though Cambridge's tighter income test means fewer households qualify on the LA Flex route alone.
Total dwellings
53,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Cambridge'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.
Cadent is the Gas Distribution Network operator for the North-West (and much of the Midlands and East England) — that includes every CB1–CB5 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Cambridge addresses are — there is nothing to pay. ECO4 funds the boiler, internal pipework, controls, meter installation, and safe removal of the old system.
Cadent's indicative pricing toolBottom line: Almost every Cambridge address (CB1–CB5) is already on the Cadent gas main, so the connection cost is £0. The rare off-main cases sit on the outer fringes and pay Cadent 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 Cambridge 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
Pre-1919 mid-terrace, three-bed two-up two-down with rear extension, solid-brick front, cavity rear
Existing system
EPC band E — 1999 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs, original sash sashes to the front
Measure installed
Old combi removed; new A-rated condensing combi sited in the kitchen; full system flush; new programmable controls and TRVs; loft topped up to 270mm; rear-extension cavity walls drilled and filled.
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band E to band C; first-winter heating-bill cut of roughly £550–£750. £0 paid by the household.
Time on site
Boiler swap and cavity-fill completed across two days on site.
Illustrative — based on typical CB1–CB5 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Cambridge 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 CB1 Romsey Town pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Cambridge 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 Cambridge.
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.
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 Cambridge ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Cambridge homeowners (EPC band D–G) and private tenants (EPC band E–G, with landlord consent) whose household either claims a qualifying benefit (Universal Credit, Pension Credit, PIP, ESA, Income Support, Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit) or meets Cambridge City Council's tighter LA Flex income test: gross household income under £20,000 for a single person OR under £30,000 for a couple, with savings under £20,000. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Cambridge City Council sets a tighter LA Flex income threshold than the standard £31,000-irrespective-of-composition test used by most English councils — £20,000 single or £30,000 couple, plus a £20,000 savings cap. This reflects Cambridge's high housing-cost-to-income ratio: the council chose a tighter targeting test to focus ECO4 Flex referrals on households in genuine fuel poverty, not middle-income owner-occupiers in expensive housing. Most Cambridge applicants qualify via the benefits route rather than LA Flex.
Cadent Gas's East of England network operates the gas mains across all CB1–CB5 postcodes — the same GDN that covers Peterborough, Ipswich, Milton Keynes and the wider East. ECO4 covers the new boiler, internal pipework, meter installation and removal of the old system at no cost. The connection from your meter back to the Cadent main is separate — Cadent publishes an indicative pricing tool for households needing a new connection.
The Mill Road / Romsey terrace belt — built from 1850 (Sturton Town) and the 1880s onwards (Romsey Town) — is Cambridge's strongest ECO4 catchment. These two-up two-down terraces typically combine a solid-brick front with a cavity rear extension. The strongest scoring package is an A-rated condensing combi replacement plus loft top-up to 270mm and rear-extension cavity-wall fill where present. Solid-wall insulation on the front may need Conservation Area planning consent in parts of the Mill Road corridor.
Often yes. Cambridge City Council has invested heavily in new council housing since 2017 (75 homes at King's Hedges, 115 at Cherry Hinton, 118 at Romsey) — but the surrounding older stock still includes substantial pre-1980 ex-council dwellings. Where the original boiler is still in place or has been replaced with a non-condensing combi in the 1990s, an A-rated boiler swap plus loft top-up and cavity-wall fill is the standard package.
No. Cambridge City Council's Statement of Intent covers CB1–CB5 city postcodes only. The wider county — South Cambridgeshire (Histon, Sawston, Cambourne and surrounding villages) and East Cambridgeshire (Ely, Soham, Littleport) — is covered by South Cambridgeshire District Council and East Cambridgeshire District Council respectively, each publishing their own Statement of Intent. Households outside the city should contact their district council energy team.
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 Cambridge 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
Cambridge City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2023-01-01
Cambridge City Council — ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent
LA Flex thresholds and vulnerability criteria
Cadent — new gas connection page
GDN-side connection-cost guidance
ONS Census 2021 — Cambridge local-authority area (E07000008)
Dwelling counts for Cambridge (2021 Census)
Cambridge City Council — Housing Strategy evidence
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. CB1–CB5 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.
