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
NI-specific guides: Affordable Warmth scheme (nidirect) · NIHE Affordable Warmth
BT30–BT35
Postcode coverage
firmus Energy
Gas Distribution Network
Affordable Warmth
NIHE / DfC route
£0
Cost to qualifying households
Affordable Warmth in Newry is referred-only: your local council passes eligible households to NIHE, who then arrange a survey and the install.
Per nidirect's Affordable Warmth Scheme page, the Department for Communities sets a gross household income ceiling:
Households can be referred by health and care professionals where someone has a cold-sensitive illness, regardless of the income test:
Bottom line: If your address is in BT30–BT35, your household income is under £23,000 (or you have a cold-sensitive health condition), and your boiler is unreliable, ask Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's council energy team to refer you to NIHE's Affordable Warmth Scheme.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) is one of Northern Ireland's most rural local government districts, with a housing stock that splits cleanly between the urban centres (Newry city, Downpatrick, Newcastle, Warrenpoint, Kilkeel, Ballynahinch) and the wide Mourne and Carlingford hinterland. NIHE has confirmed £13.7m of Affordable Warmth and Boiler Replacement spend in NMDDC to date, with planned 2024/25 public-sector housing spend of £29.52m and stock-improvement spend of £2.41m (NIHE NMDDC HIP 2024 Update). The urban stock of Newry city (BT34, BT35) — Drumalane, Daisy Hill, Ballyholland, Cloughreagh, and the inner-city terraces around the Newry Canal — is a mix of Victorian and Edwardian red-brick terraces, post-war Newry & Mourne DC council semis, and 1960s low-rise blocks. Downpatrick (BT30) and Newcastle (BT33) add small-town Victorian and inter-war stock. The Mournes hinterland — Kilkeel, Annalong, Rostrevor, Hilltown, Castlewellan, Forkhill, Crossmaglen — is dominated by 1930s-1980s rural cottages and bungalows, much of it off the firmus Energy mains network and running on oil-fired central heating (the dominant rural fuel in NMDDC). This off-grid pattern is significant: the Affordable Warmth Scheme funds oil-boiler replacement on the same terms as gas-boiler replacement, so NMDDC's rural households can access the scheme even where firmus Energy's South-North pipeline has not extended. The combination — Newry city's terraced inner-belt, the small-town Down stock, and the off-grid Mournes hinterland — makes NMDDC one of Northern Ireland's highest-volume Affordable Warmth catchments per dwelling.
Total dwellings
77,800
as of 2024-04
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Newry's stock mix sits squarely inside NIHE's Affordable Warmth catchment — your Technical Officer survey will confirm the right boiler-and-insulation package for your specific property.
firmus Energy is the Gas Distribution Network operator for this region — that includes every BT30–BT35 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Newry addresses are — there is nothing to pay. Affordable Warmth funds the boiler, internal pipework, controls, meter installation, and safe removal of the old system.
firmus Energy's indicative pricing toolBottom line: Almost every Newry address (BT30–BT35) is already on the firmus Energy gas main, so the connection cost is £0. The rare off-main cases sit on the outer fringes and pay firmus Energy separately for the new connection.
Affordable Warmth is the Northern Ireland equivalent of ECO4 — but the eligibility, funding and delivery are completely different. It is administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC), funded from the NI Executive's block grant. ECO4 (the UK-wide energy-supplier obligation regulated by Ofgem) does NOT operate in Northern Ireland at all. Newry, Mourne and Down households apply through NIHE direct or via NIEAS on 0800 111 4455 — NMDDC does not publish a dedicated council-level Affordable Warmth phone. The scheme has been extended to March 2028 and will be replaced by the Warm Healthy Homes Fund (WHHF) from April 2027. For the large rural off-grid catchment in the Mournes, the Scheme funds oil-boiler replacement (not just gas) — useful given much of NMDDC outside Newry town centre is off the firmus Energy mains network.
Affordable Warmth (NI)Bottom line: Affordable Warmth via NIHE is the route for Newry — ECO4 doesn't operate in Northern Ireland at all.
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 Newry 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. Northern Ireland's Affordable Warmth scheme continues; the Warm Homes Plan does not extend directly to NI, but Barnett Consequentials provide additional funding.
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
1970s detached rural bungalow, three-bed, render-over-block construction, off the gas main with no firmus Energy connection in the village
Existing system
1990s oil-fired boiler in an outside utility room, feeding a vented hot-water cylinder and a basic radiator circuit with no TRVs; tank in the rear yard; no programmable controls; EPC band F; existing oil boiler 18 years old
Measure installed
Old oil boiler decommissioned and removed; new condensing oil-fired boiler installed in the same utility room with a new flue; new oil tank fitted; programmable controls and TRVs fitted across all radiators. Approved NIHE contractor installation following Affordable Warmth referral via NIEAS.
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band F to band D; first-winter oil demand reduced by roughly a third; homeowner paid £0 on a Boiler Replacement grant under the Affordable Warmth Scheme (qualified via age 65+ with a 15+ year old boiler and household income under £23,000; NIHE Technical Officer confirmed oil-replacement was correct given the off-grid location).
Time on site
One day on site for the new oil boiler and tank, plus a half-day return visit for the controls and TRV commissioning.
Illustrative — based on typical BT30–BT35 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Newry 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 Annalong, on the Mourne coast (BT34) pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Newry addresses are already on the gas main — nothing extra to pay.
Bottom line: If your Affordable Warmth application is approved, the install is £0. The only out-of-pocket case is a brand-new gas-main connection from off-grid — uncommon in Newry but more common in the rural NI fringes.
Contact Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's energy team on 0800 111 4455 to request an Affordable Warmth referral.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive sends an assessor to inspect the property, confirm the income / vulnerability route, and scope the works.
Gas Safe install by an NIHE-approved contractor, with building-control sign-off.
Prefer to contact Newry, Mourne and Down District Council directly?
Delivery overseen by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive under Department for Communities.
Bottom line: From the initial NIEAS call to a commissioned boiler, a typical Newry Affordable Warmth job runs six to eight weeks. The wizard above starts the eligibility check immediately.
No. ECO4 is the UK-wide energy-supplier obligation regulated by Ofgem and it does NOT extend to Northern Ireland. Newry, the rest of NMDDC, and all NI households run under the Affordable Warmth Scheme, administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) on behalf of the Department for Communities (DfC) and funded from the NI Executive's block grant rather than from GB energy-supplier levies. The eligibility, application process, grant cap and delivery model are all different from ECO4.
Yes — and this is the most important Newry-area point. The Affordable Warmth Scheme funds OIL-fired boiler replacement on exactly the same terms as gas-boiler replacement. Much of NMDDC outside Newry town centre, Newcastle, Downpatrick and Warrenpoint is off the firmus Energy mains gas network — particularly the Mournes hinterland (Kilkeel, Annalong, Rostrevor, Hilltown, Castlewellan, Forkhill, Crossmaglen). For an off-grid rural household, the new boiler is normally a condensing oil-fired boiler with a fresh tank and controls. You meet the same eligibility (private-sector tenure, £23,000 income, plus the boiler-specific test: children under 16, DLA/PIP, or 65+ with a 15+ year-old existing boiler) and receive the same up to £7,500 grant cap.
You must own your home and occupy it as your sole or main residence, or rent from a private sector landlord. Tenants in NIHE social housing or housing-association properties (e.g. Apex, Choice, Clanmil, Radius) are NOT eligible — separate NIHE / housing-association programmes cover their stock. Your total gross annual household income must be under £23,000 (significantly lower than the £31,000 used by ECO4 LA Flex in England, Scotland and Wales). For boiler replacement specifically, your household must also include either a child under 16, an adult receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment, or someone aged 65 or over with an existing boiler at least 15 years old.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council does NOT publish a dedicated Affordable Warmth referral phone (unlike Belfast City Council's Building Control line). Residents apply directly via NIHE, with the freephone NI Energy Advice Service (NIEAS) on 0800 111 4455 as the public entry point. NIEAS staff carry out the initial eligibility check; if you pass, the referral is passed to NIHE. NIHE then sends a Technical Officer to survey the property — particularly important in NMDDC because they will assess whether the property is on the firmus Energy gas network or off-grid, and recommend the appropriate boiler type (gas or oil). Approved NIHE contractors carry out the install.
firmus Energy is the gas distribution network operator for Newry, Warrenpoint, Bessbrook and Banbridge — Newry sits on firmus's South-North pipeline that runs from Belfast down to the border. Phoenix Natural Gas only covers Greater Belfast; firmus covers the NI 'Ten Towns' network including Newry and most of NMDDC's urban stock. However, much of the wider NMDDC area — particularly the Mournes hinterland, the Ards Peninsula edges, and the south Armagh fringe (Crossmaglen, Forkhill, Newtownhamilton) — is OFF the gas main entirely. These rural households use oil-fired central heating, and the Affordable Warmth Scheme funds oil-boiler replacement on the same terms as gas-boiler replacement. The new flue and oil tank are included in the install.
The Department for Communities has extended the current Affordable Warmth Scheme to March 2028 (from the original March 2026 close). The Warm Healthy Homes Fund (WHHF) will launch in April 2027 and run alongside Affordable Warmth for a transition period before fully replacing it. The WHHF is expected to widen eligibility and bring NI more into line with the UK-wide post-ECO4 Warm Homes Plan agenda, though detailed eligibility is still under consultation. NIHE has cumulatively spent £13.7m on Affordable Warmth and Boiler Replacement in the NMDDC area, with planned 2024/25 NMDDC public-sector housing spend of £29.52m. If you're considering an application, the safest play is to apply now under the current Scheme rather than wait.
Neither. The Affordable Warmth Scheme in Northern Ireland runs until March 2028 and is replaced by the new Warm Healthy Homes Fund (WHHF), launching in April 2027 in a phased handover. The Department for Communities (DfC) confirmed the WHHF business case in 2025 — eligibility detail is still under consultation but the fund is expected to widen the income and property criteria from the current £23,000 cap. ECO4 (the GB-wide energy-supplier obligation closing 31 December 2026) does NOT operate in Northern Ireland. Neither does the successor "Warm Homes Plan" (sometimes searched online as "ECO5") which only extends to England, Scotland and Wales. Additional WHP funding for NI flows via Barnett Consequentials but is administered separately by NIHE on behalf of DfC, not directly by the new Warm Homes Agency. For Newry households the route remains: contact your council energy team or NIEAS (0800 111 4455) for an Affordable Warmth referral, which transitions seamlessly into the WHHF when the new scheme takes over.
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
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2024-04-01
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council — ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent
LA Flex thresholds and vulnerability criteria
firmus Energy — new gas connection page
GDN-side connection-cost guidance
NIHE — Newry, Mourne and Down Housing Investment Plan 2024 Update
Dwelling counts for Newry (2024-04)
NISRA — Northern Ireland Annual Housing Statistics 2024-25
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
Your Newry, Mourne and Down District Council energy team can refer you to NIHE if your gross household income is under £23,000 or you have a cold-sensitive health condition. There is no online wizard for Affordable Warmth — the referral is handled by council and NIHE staff.
