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 OX1–OX4 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 Oxford City Council's September 2023 LA Flex Statement of Intent, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Oxford sits on the SGN Southern gas network. Boiler swaps and First-Time Central Heating are routine; external-wall and window measures may need Conservation Area planning consent.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
OX1–OX4
Postcode coverage
SGN
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Oxford City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Oxford 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? Oxford City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in OX1–OX4, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Oxford City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Oxford's housing is a tighter-than-average mix of three cohorts. The first is the Victorian working-class terrace stock built for Oxford University Press, the Jericho Iron and Brass Foundry and the railway — Jericho (OX2), Cowley Road / East Oxford (OX4), parts of Botley and Osney — usually solid-brick or limestone-faced two-up two-down terraces with conservation-area constraints. The second is the inter-war and post-war expansion to Headington, Marston, Iffley, Cowley, Wolvercote, Summertown and Littlemore — semis and short terraces with first-generation cavity walls. The third is the large 1960s/70s peripheral estates at Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and Barton, where Economy 7 storage heating was common and First-Time Central Heating measures still score strongly. On top of all three sit 18 conservation areas and over 1,500 listed buildings, which means external-wall insulation and window changes routinely require Oxford City Council planning consent — but a boiler swap or internal heating upgrade does not.
Total dwellings
60,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Oxford'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.
SGN is the Gas Distribution Network operator for Scotland and Southern England — that includes every OX1–OX4 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Oxford addresses are — there is nothing to pay. ECO4 funds the boiler, internal pipework, controls, meter installation, and safe removal of the old system.
SGN's indicative pricing toolBottom line: Almost every Oxford address (OX1–OX4) is already on the SGN gas main, so the connection cost is £0. The rare off-main cases sit on the outer fringes and pay SGN 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 Oxford 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, two-up two-down brick, three-bed, sash sashes to the front
Existing system
EPC band E — 1998 non-condensing combi at end of life, single-zone Y-plan controls, no TRVs
Measure installed
Old combi removed; new A-rated condensing combi sited internally; full radiator-circuit flush; new programmable controls and TRVs; loft topped up to 270mm. External-wall and window measures deferred pending Cowley Road Conservation Area consent.
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band E to band D; first-winter heating-bill cut of roughly £550–£700. £0 paid by the household.
Time on site
Completed in a single day on site.
Illustrative — based on typical OX1–OX4 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Oxford 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 OX4 East Oxford (off Cowley Road) pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Oxford 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 Oxford.
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 Oxford ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Oxford 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 Oxford City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Oxford City Council published its current ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent in September 2023 — the formal document used by installers to confirm eligibility for households not on qualifying benefits. The standard route uses a £31,000 gross household income threshold; the vulnerability route uses cold-home indicators.
SGN Southern. Oxford sits in SGN's Southern England network, the same GDN that covers Reading, Brighton and Portsmouth. ECO4 covers the new boiler, internal pipework, the meter installation and removal of the old system at no cost. The connection from your meter back to the SGN main is separate — for a standard sub-20-metre run the SGN service charge is around £893 plus VAT.
Yes. Boiler replacement, First-Time Central Heating, loft insulation top-up and internal heating-control upgrades do not require planning consent and are routine inside Oxford's 18 conservation areas. What does need consent is anything that changes the external appearance — solid-wall insulation rendered to the front of a listed terrace, replacement windows, or external flue routes visible from the street. The PAS 2035 retrofit assessment under ECO4 flags these constraints early so the scope is set before the install date.
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 blocks in Blackbird Leys, Rose Hill and Barton are connected to the SGN mains even where individual flats are not yet hooked up. ECO4 covers the boiler, the full radiator set, the pipework and the removal of the existing electric heaters.
Yes, with two conditions: the EPC must be band E–G (one notch stricter than for owner-occupiers) and your landlord must consent to the upgrade in writing. Oxford's private rented sector is concentrated in Jericho, East Oxford and Headington. The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) policy backdrop means most landlords approve quickly — the upgrade improves their asset at no cost and helps them stay compliant with the MEES band-E floor.
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 Oxford 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
Oxford City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2023-09-01
Oxford City Council — ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent
LA Flex thresholds and vulnerability criteria
SGN — new gas connection page
GDN-side connection-cost guidance
ONS Census 2021 — Oxford local-authority area (E07000178)
Dwelling counts for Oxford (2021 Census)
Oxford City Council retrofit + Local Plan evidence base
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. OX1–OX4 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.
