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 CV1–CV6 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 your gross household income is under £31,000 via Coventry City Council's October 2023 LA Flex Statement of Intent V4, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Coventry is on the Cadent West Midlands gas network.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
CV1–CV6
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Coventry City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Coventry 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? Coventry City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in CV1–CV6, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Coventry City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Coventry's housing stock is unique among English cities because of the 14 November 1940 Blitz, which destroyed much of the city centre, and Donald Gibson's post-war reconstruction plan. The pre-1939 stock that survives is concentrated in the inner suburbs — Earlsdon (CV5), Stoke (CV2), Foleshill (CV6), Radford (CV6) and the surviving streets of Hillfields (CV1) — typically Victorian and Edwardian brick terraces, many built for the cycle, motor and machine-tool industries that powered the city's pre-war economy. The bombed inner area was rebuilt under Gibson's modernist masterplan, with most new housing pushed to large peripheral Parker Morris estates: Tile Hill (CV4), Wood End (CV2), Stoke Aldermoor (CV3), Canley (CV4), Bell Green (CV2) and Willenhall (CV3) — typically two-storey brick semis and short terraces with first-generation cavity walls. A third cohort is the 1960s/70s tower-and-deck blocks (Hillfields, central CV1), much of which was redeveloped again in the 1990s and 2000s. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the surviving pre-1939 inner-suburb terraces — particularly in Earlsdon, Foleshill and Radford — where boiler-replacement-plus-loft-and-cavity packages routinely lift EPC band E or F to band C.
Total dwellings
145,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Coventry'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 CV1–CV6 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Coventry 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 Coventry address (CV1–CV6) 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 Coventry 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-wall front and cavity rear
Existing system
EPC band E — 1999 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs, single-glazed sash 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 CV1–CV6 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Coventry 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 CV6 Foleshill pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Coventry 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 Coventry.
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 Coventry ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Coventry 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 has gross income under £31,000 via Coventry City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Coventry City Council publishes its Energy Company Obligation Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent at Version 4, dated 12 October 2023, covering both ECO4 Flex and the Great British Insulation Scheme. It uses the standard £31,000 gross income threshold and all four Ofgem Route 2 proxies.
Cadent Gas's West Midlands network operates the gas mains across all CV1–CV6 postcodes — the same GDN that covers Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell. 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 14 November 1940 Blitz destroyed much of Coventry's medieval core and surrounding industrial terrace belt. Donald Gibson, the city architect at the time, used the destruction as an opportunity to reshape the entire city — pedestrian precincts in the centre, large Parker Morris estates on the outskirts (Tile Hill, Wood End, Stoke Aldermoor, Canley), and slow piecemeal redevelopment in Hillfields. The result is a city with a relatively small pre-1939 terrace belt (in Earlsdon, Stoke, Foleshill, Radford) and an unusually large 1950s/60s post-war estate share.
Often 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. Tile Hill, Wood End, Stoke Aldermoor, Canley and Bell Green were built to early Parker Morris standards with cavity walls and are mostly connected to Cadent's mains, even where individual properties are not yet hooked up.
Pre-1919 inner-suburb terraces in Earlsdon (CV5), Stoke (CV2), Foleshill (CV6) and Radford (CV6) 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 is in scope but may need planning consent on streets inside the Spon Street and Earlsdon Conservation Areas.
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 Coventry 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
Coventry City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2023-10-12
Coventry 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 — Coventry local-authority area (E08000026)
Dwelling counts for Coventry (2021 Census)
Coventry City Council — Local Plan housing evidence
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. CV1–CV6 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.
