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 HU1–HU9 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 Kingston upon Hull City Council's LA Flex route, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Hull is on the Northern Gas Networks gas grid — the same GDN that serves Leeds, Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
HU1–HU9
Postcode coverage
Northern Gas Networks
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Kingston upon Hull City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Hull 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? Kingston upon Hull City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in HU1–HU9, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Kingston upon Hull City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Hull's housing splits across three distinct cohorts. The first is the surviving 19th-century terrace belt running parallel to Hessle Road and Holderness Road and across the inner districts of the Avenues, Newland and Sculcoates — densely packed two-up two-down red-brick workers' terraces originally built for the deep-sea fishing fleet and the dock trades. Much of the older back-to-back stock around the Boulevard and Hessle Road was lost to slum clearance in the 1960s, but the surviving streets remain a primary ECO4 catchment. The second cohort is the vast 1960s/70s peripheral estates — Bransholme (HU7), once Europe's largest local-authority estate when it opened in 1966–77, plus Orchard Park, Greatfield and Bilton Grange — typically prefab and concrete-frame walk-ups and short terraces with two notable tower blocks (Padstow House and Gatwick House on Bransholme). The third cohort is the regenerated docks fringe (the Fruit Market, Marina) and the inner-city rebuild that followed Hull's 2017 City of Culture year. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the Bransholme / Orchard Park estate belt — large volumes of repetitive stock with Economy 7 storage heating or early non-condensing combis, where FTCH and boiler-replacement measures score heavily.
Total dwellings
121,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Hull'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.
Northern Gas Networks is the Gas Distribution Network operator for the North-East and Northern Cumbria — that includes every HU1–HU9 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Hull addresses are — there is nothing to pay. ECO4 funds the boiler, internal pipework, controls, meter installation, and safe removal of the old system.
Northern Gas Networks's indicative pricing toolBottom line: Almost every Hull address (HU1–HU9) is already on the Northern Gas Networks gas main, so the connection cost is £0. The rare off-main cases sit on the outer fringes and pay Northern Gas Networks 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 Hull 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
1972 two-storey prefab terrace, three-bed, brick outer leaf, shallow-pitch roof
Existing system
EPC band E — Economy 7 storage heaters (1990s replacement units), no central heating, single-glazed timber to the rear
Measure installed
First-Time Central Heating (FTCH) installed: new A-rated condensing combi, full set of new radiators, internal pipework, programmable controls and TRVs. Existing storage heaters removed under the same visit. Loft topped up to 270mm. Coordinated under PAS 2035 because the prefab construction needed a fabric assessment.
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band E to band C; first-winter running-cost cut estimated at £700–£950 once the household moved off Economy 7 night-rate electricity. £0 paid.
Time on site
Install completed in four days on site.
Illustrative — based on typical HU1–HU9 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Hull 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 HU7 Bransholme pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Hull 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 Hull.
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 Hull ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Hull 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 Kingston upon Hull City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Kingston upon Hull City Council operates ECO4 Flex referrals via the housing energy team, covering all HU1–HU9 postcodes within the city boundary. The wider East Riding of Yorkshire (Beverley, Hessle, Cottingham, etc.) is covered by East Riding of Yorkshire Council's separate Statement of Intent.
Northern Gas Networks (NGN) operates the gas mains across all HU postcodes — the same GDN that covers Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and the wider North East and Yorkshire. 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 NGN main is separate — NGN publishes an online quote tool for households needing a new connection.
Often yes — this is First-Time Central Heating (FTCH), and it is one of the highest-scoring ECO4 measures because moving from Economy 7 storage heaters to a gas combi typically jumps the EPC two bands. Bransholme and Orchard Park were both built in the late 1960s and early 1970s with prefab and concrete-frame construction; many properties retained their original electric heating systems. ECO4 covers the boiler, the full radiator set, the pipework and the removal of the existing storage heaters under a PAS 2035 fabric assessment.
The surviving pre-1919 terrace belt running parallel to Hessle Road and Holderness Road, plus the Avenues, Newland and Sculcoates, sits at the heart of Hull's ECO4 catchment for combined boiler-and-insulation packages. The strongest scoring scope is an A-rated condensing combi replacement plus loft top-up and rear-extension cavity-wall fill where the rear is cavity-built. Many original back-to-backs were cleared in the 1960s, so the surviving stock is mostly through-terrace.
Yes — the City of Culture year brought visible inner-city regeneration (the Fruit Market, the Marina, public-realm work around Princes Quay) and a follow-on £25m fund for housing renewal. The estate-side investment continued through to Bransholme regeneration plans and several Hull City Council retrofit pilots. ECO4 sits alongside these council programmes — households can apply directly to ECO4 without waiting for a specific council retrofit scheme to open.
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 Hull 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
Kingston upon Hull City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2024-01-01
Kingston upon Hull City Council — ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent
LA Flex thresholds and vulnerability criteria
Northern Gas Networks — new gas connection page
GDN-side connection-cost guidance
ONS Census 2021 — Kingston upon Hull local-authority area (E06000010)
Dwelling counts for Hull (2021 Census)
Kingston upon Hull City Council — Housing Strategy evidence
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. HU1–HU9 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.
