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 LE1–LE5 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 Leicester City Council's September 2023 LA Flex Statement of Intent v3.1, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Leicester is on the Cadent East Midlands gas network.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
LE1–LE5
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Leicester City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Leicester 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? Leicester City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in LE1–LE5, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Leicester City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Leicester's housing reflects its industrial-revolution boomtown legacy and the post-1960s demographic transformation that made it one of England's most diverse cities. The pre-1919 inner-city working-class belt runs through Highfields (LE2), Spinney Hills, North Evington (LE5) and Belgrave (LE4) — solid-walled or unfilled-cavity two-up two-down brick terraces, originally built for hosiery, footwear and rubber workers, now housing a long-settled South Asian and Eastern European population. The middle-class Edwardian and late-Victorian belt sits south and east of the city centre — Clarendon Park, Stoneygate (LE2), the West End and Knighton — typically larger bay-fronted terraces and semis with cavity construction. The post-war picture adds large outer-council estates at Braunstone (LE3), New Parks (LE3), Beaumont Leys (LE4), Saffron Lane (LE2) and Eyres Monsell (LE2), many built to early Parker Morris standards. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the Highfields / North Evington / Belgrave inner-terrace belt — the SAP uplift from a combined A-rated condensing combi plus loft top-up is typically large, but solid-wall and conservation considerations on the older streets mean a phased PAS 2035 assessment matters.
Total dwellings
143,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Leicester'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 LE1–LE5 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Leicester 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 Leicester address (LE1–LE5) 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 Leicester 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
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 LE1–LE5 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Leicester 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 LE5 North Evington pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Leicester 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 Leicester.
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 Leicester ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Leicester 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 Leicester City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Leicester City Council publishes its GBIS and ECO4 Flex Statement of Intent at version 3.1, dated 1 September 2023, covering both ECO4 Flex and the Great British Insulation Scheme. The standard £31,000 gross household income route is supplemented by cold-home vulnerability indicators across the four Ofgem proxy routes.
Cadent Gas's East Midlands network operates the gas mains across all LE1–LE5 postcodes within the Leicester city boundary. 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 has an indicative pricing tool for households needing a new connection.
Leicester's inner-east terrace belt — Highfields, Spinney Hills, North Evington and Belgrave — 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. Solid-wall insulation on the front is in scope but typically needs PAS 2035 fabric assessment and (on streets inside the Highfields and Spinney Hills Conservation Areas) planning consent.
Often yes — this is First-Time Central Heating (FTCH), and it is 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. Most ex-council estates in Braunstone, New Parks, Beaumont Leys and Saffron Lane are connected to Cadent's mains even where individual properties are not yet hooked up.
No — the city boundary matters. Leicester City Council's Statement of Intent covers LE1–LE5 and a couple of inner LE-suffix postcodes only. The wider county (Leicestershire — including Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Market Harborough) is covered by Leicestershire County Council's separate Joint Statement of Intent, which uses similar but distinct routes. Households outside the city should ask 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 Leicester 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
Leicester City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2023-09-01
Leicester 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 — Leicester local-authority area (E06000016)
Dwelling counts for Leicester (2021 Census)
Leicester City Council — Local Plan housing evidence
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. LE1–LE5 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.
