Free Boiler Grants in Cornwall (TR1–TR27 + PL10–PL35)ECO4 Eligibility 2026

Yes. Cornwall Council is the single unitary authority for the whole ceremonial county (formed in 2009 from the merger of Cornwall County Council and the six district councils — Caradon, Carrick, Kerrier, North Cornwall, Penwith and Restormel). It operates ECO4 Flex under the standard Ofgem framework: Route 1 (gross household income under £31,000 with EPC D-G owner-occupied or E-G private rented), Route 2 (two of six active proxies including LSOA 1-3 deprivation, Council Tax Reduction, NICE NG6 cold-vulnerability, free school meals, the council-named Community Energy Plus scheme, or an energy-supplier / Citizens Advice referral), and Route 3 (NHS / GP-identified cold-home vulnerability with income disregarded). The named Proxy 5 delivery partner is Community Energy Plus (CEP), a Truro-headquartered Cornish charity running a public freephone advice line on 0800 954 1956. The council's published Statement of Intent is v.11 (originally 2017, with periodic addenda).

Partly. ECO4 was designed primarily for mains-gas boiler replacement, and funding for OIL-fired boiler swaps under ECO4 is more limited than for gas — energy suppliers prioritise measures with the strongest SAP uplift per pound spent, and an oil-to-oil boiler swap scores less than a non-condensing-to-condensing gas swap. Cornwall Council has been actively lobbying DESNZ for an alternative-fuel ECO equivalent to extend boiler-replacement support to oil and LPG households. In practice, off-grid Cornish households are typically directed to insulation-first measures under ECO4 (loft, cavity where solid walls allow, draught-proofing, hot-water tank jacket) plus controls upgrades. Community Energy Plus (0800 954 1956) is the best first call to confirm what's available for your specific off-grid address.

Wales & West Utilities (WWU) is the GDN for Wales and the South-West, including the Cornish mains-gas network. WWU's network reaches the main urban centres — Truro, Falmouth, Camborne–Redruth, St Austell, Newquay, Bodmin, Saltash, Liskeard, Penzance and the south-coast resort towns — but it does NOT extend to the Lizard Peninsula, Bodmin Moor villages, the north coast (Tintagel, Boscastle) or much of the inner moorland. ECO4 covers the new boiler, internal pipework, meter installation and removal of the old system at no cost where you are on the mains. A new gas connection from your meter to the WWU main, if you live just off the existing network, ranges from around £500 for a short distance up to £2,500+ for longer routes. WWU publishes a domestic quotation tool — link from our gas-network section.

Yes, and this is one of the most useful ECO4 measures for the Cornish granite-cottage stock. Granite cottages have solid 500-700mm walls with no cavity to insulate, so external or internal wall insulation under ECO4 is the main route to a SAP uplift. However: cottages inside the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site (2006 inscription — covers Camborne–Redruth, St Just, the Hayle estuary, parts of the Tamar Valley) and listed cottages anywhere in Cornwall need Conservation Area consent or listed-building consent for any external wall insulation that changes the appearance of the property. Most installs default to internal insulation, loft top-up, draught-proofing and a boiler swap (if on mains gas) rather than external work. Your PAS 2035 retrofit assessor will flag the consent requirements before the install is approved.

No — ECO4 explicitly applies to the occupant''s sole or main residence, not to second homes or short-term holiday lets. Around 5,700 Cornish properties pay the Council Tax second-home premium and fall outside the ECO4 catchment for this reason. If you are a private landlord letting on a long-term assured shorthold tenancy and the tenant claims a qualifying benefit (or you meet the £31,000 income / two-proxy Route 2 tests as a landlord-occupier yourself), the property qualifies at EPC band E-G; the long-let landlord-tenant route is fine. The cut-off is between long-let residential and short-let holiday or second-home use — only the former is in scope.

From the initial CEP eligibility call to a commissioned new boiler, a typical Cornish job runs five to seven weeks for mains-gas addresses in the urban centres (Truro, Falmouth, Camborne–Redruth, St Austell, Saltash, Liskeard, Bodmin, Penzance). The eligibility pass takes 49 seconds through our wizard or via CEP''s 0800 954 1956 freephone. The PAS 2035 retrofit assessment is usually booked within ten working days. The install itself is two to three days for a standard combi swap. Off-grid addresses on insulation-first interventions can take longer to assess because the Technical Officer has to confirm the right balance of loft, internal wall and controls work for an oil-heated property — expect six to eight weeks end-to-end on those.

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 Cornwall 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.