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 DE1–DE24 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 Derby City Council's April 2024 LA Flex Statement of Intent, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Derby is on the Cadent East Midlands gas network — the same GDN that serves Nottingham, Leicester and Peterborough.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
DE1–DE24
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Derby City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Derby 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? Derby City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in DE1–DE24, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Derby City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Derby's housing reflects its industrial heritage as the original home of Rolls-Royce and a major centre for railway engineering. The pre-1919 Victorian and Edwardian terrace belt runs through Normanton (DE23), Pear Tree (DE23), Rose Hill, Osmaston and the streets immediately south of the city centre — typical brick terraces originally built to house the workforce at the Derby locomotive works (founded 1840) and the early Rolls-Royce factory (1908). Common building-fabric issues today include rising damp, bay-window cracking, flat-roof failures on rear extensions and ageing electrics. The post-war picture adds large Derby City Homes (and earlier Derby Corporation) estates at Mackworth (DE22), Chaddesden (DE21), Sinfin (DE24), Allenton (DE24), Alvaston (DE24) and Stenson Fields — early Parker Morris standards, mostly cavity-walled. The leafier outer suburbs — Allestree, Littleover, Mickleover — are largely owner-occupied 1930s and post-war semis with higher EPC bands. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the Normanton / Pear Tree / Rose Hill terrace belt and the older Sinfin / Allenton ex-council estates.
Total dwellings
113,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Derby'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 DE1–DE24 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Derby 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 Derby address (DE1–DE24) 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 Derby 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 — 1998 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs, original sash to the front, ageing fuse-box electrics
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 DE1–DE24 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Derby 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 DE23 Pear Tree pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Derby 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 Derby.
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 Derby ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Derby 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 Derby City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Derby City Council publishes its ECO4 Flex Statement of Intent (most recent version April 2024) covering DE1 and inner DE21–DE24 postcodes. The wider Derbyshire County area — Chesterfield, Belper, Matlock, Ilkeston and surrounding districts — is covered by Derbyshire County Council's separate Statement of Intent, currently at V5.
Cadent Gas's East Midlands network operates the gas mains across all DE postcodes — the same GDN that covers Nottingham, Leicester, Peterborough and Sheffield. 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.
Inner Derby's terrace belt — Normanton, Pear Tree, Rose Hill and parts of Osmaston — sits at the heart of the city's ECO4 catchment. 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. Bay-window cracking, flat-roof failures on rear extensions and ageing electrics are common findings — none are ECO4-funded but are often flagged during the PAS 2035 retrofit assessment.
Often yes — this is First-Time Central Heating (FTCH), one of the highest-scoring ECO4 measures because moving from Economy 7 storage heaters to a gas combi typically jumps the EPC two bands. Mackworth, Chaddesden, Sinfin, Allenton, Alvaston and Stenson Fields were built to early Parker Morris standards with cavity walls and are mostly connected to Cadent's mains.
No — the city boundary matters. Derby City Council's SoI covers DE1 and the inner DE21–DE24 city postcodes only. The wider Derbyshire County area uses Derbyshire County Council's separate Statement of Intent (V5) which covers Chesterfield, Amber Valley, Bolsover, Erewash, High Peak, Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire districts.
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 Derby 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
Derby City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2024-04-01
Derby 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 — Derby local-authority area (E06000015)
Dwelling counts for Derby (2021 Census)
Derby City Council — Home energy advice
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. DE1–DE24 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.
