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 PE1–PE9 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 Peterborough City Council's LA Flex route, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Peterborough is on the Cadent East of England gas network and the council routes referrals through the Local Energy Advice Partnership (LEAP).
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
PE1–PE9
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Peterborough City Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Peterborough 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? Peterborough City Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in PE1–PE9, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Peterborough City Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Peterborough's housing reflects two distinct booms. The first is the late-Victorian and Edwardian railway-terrace stock concentrated in Millfield, New England, Walton, Eastfield, West Town and parts of Fletton — densely built two-up two-down brick terraces that housed Great Northern Railway workers and Peterborough's brick-industry workforce. The second is the post-1967 New Town expansion that bolted on huge planned grids at Bretton, Orton (Waterville, Wistow, Brimbles), Werrington, Paston and Hampton — typically two-storey brick semis and short terraces to early Parker Morris standards, often with first-generation cavity walls and non-condensing combi boilers fitted in the 1990s. Around the city's edge, off-mains villages along the Nene valley (Castor, Ailsworth, Helpston) still rely on heating oil or LPG and frequently qualify for ECO4 First-Time Central Heating where a new gas connection is feasible.
Total dwellings
88,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Peterborough'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 PE1–PE9 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Peterborough 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 Peterborough address (PE1–PE9) 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 Peterborough 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 two-up two-down brick terrace, three-bed, solid wall front
Existing system
EPC band E — 1998 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs, single-glazed sash
Measure installed
Boiler replaced with A-rated condensing combi; full system flush; new programmable controls and TRVs; loft insulation topped up to 270mm. Cavity-wall measures deferred (solid front wall).
Outcome
EPC modelled uplift from band E to band D; first-winter heating-bill cut of roughly £500–£700. £0 paid by the household.
Time on site
Boiler swap completed in one day; loft top-up the following morning.
Illustrative — based on typical PE1–PE9 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Peterborough 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 PE1 New England pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Peterborough 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 Peterborough.
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 Peterborough ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Peterborough homeowners and private tenants whose home is EPC band D–G and 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 Peterborough City Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Peterborough City Council refreshed its ECO4 Flex Statement of Intent in March 2025 to align with Ofgem's latest LA Administration Guidance v2.1. Referrals are routed via the council's home-energy team and the Local Energy Advice Partnership (LEAP), which provides free advice visits as the first step for households not on benefits.
Cadent Gas's East of England network operates the gas mains across all PE postcodes covering Peterborough. 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.
Pre-1919 terraces in Millfield, New England and West Town are typically solid-wall front, brick-cavity rear, often with original non-condensing combis fitted in the 1990s. The strongest scoring ECO4 package combines an A-rated condensing combi replacement with loft top-up insulation and (where the rear is cavity-built) cavity-wall fill. Solid-wall insulation is in scope but planning consent is often required in Conservation Areas — Millfield's Lincoln Road has heritage controls.
Often yes. The Orton (Waterville, Wistow, Brimbles) and Paston estates were built from the late 1970s through the 1980s under Peterborough's New Town designation, mostly to early Parker Morris standards with cavity walls. Properties that still sit at EPC band D — typically those that never had their non-condensing combi replaced — qualify for a boiler swap. The newer Hampton developments (post-1996) and the Orton Northgate stock are mostly EPC C or higher and fall outside scope.
Yes, where a connection from the Cadent main is feasible. ECO4 First-Time Central Heating funds the boiler, the full radiator set, the pipework and removal of the existing oil tank or electric storage heaters. Off-grid Nene-valley villages — Castor, Ailsworth, Helpston, Glinton — frequently have this combination of old oil or LPG heating and EPC band F–G stock, which makes them strong FTCH candidates subject to a Cadent connection quote.
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 Peterborough 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
Peterborough City Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2025-03-01
Peterborough 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 — Peterborough local-authority area (E06000031)
Dwelling counts for Peterborough (2021 Census)
Peterborough City Council Local Plan evidence base
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. PE1–PE9 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.
