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 SK1–SK8 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 Stockport Council's LA Flex route, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Stockport is on the Cadent North West gas network — the same GDN that serves Manchester, Liverpool and Bolton.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
SK1–SK8
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Stockport 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? Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in SK1–SK8, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Stockport's housing stock reflects two distinct industrial cohorts plus a strong Greater Manchester inter-war semi-detached belt. The Victorian terrace cohort (1860–1910) fills Edgeley (SK3), Reddish (SK5), Heaton Norris (SK4), Shaw Heath (SK3), Portwood (SK1) and Cale Green (SK2) — solid-brick two-up two-down workers' housing originally built for the Mersey-side cotton mills and Stockport's hat-making industry, with slate roofs, cellars and original timber floors. Common findings today include rising damp on streets close to the Mersey and Goyt where the water table sits high, failed lime mortar, lead pipework and single-glazed sash windows. The middle-class Edwardian belt sits across Heaton Moor (SK4), Heaton Chapel (SK4) and parts of Cheadle Heath — larger bay-fronted terraces and semis with cavity construction. The mid-20th-century picture adds large semi-detached estates across Brinnington (SK5), Bredbury (SK6), Offerton (SK2) and Marple (SK6) — typically post-war Parker Morris and 1960s social housing. For ECO4 the strongest catchment is the Edgeley / Reddish / Heaton Norris terrace belt, where boiler-replacement-plus-loft and cavity-wall fill routinely lifts EPC band E to band C.
Total dwellings
130,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Stockport'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 SK1–SK8 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Stockport 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 Stockport address (SK1–SK8) 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 Stockport 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-brick front and cavity rear
Existing system
EPC band E — 1999 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs, original sash to the front, slight rising damp on the cellar wall
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 SK1–SK8 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Stockport 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 SK3 Edgeley pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Stockport 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 Stockport.
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 Stockport ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Stockport 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 Stockport Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Stockport Council operates ECO4 Flex referrals via the council's housing energy team. The standard £31,000 gross income threshold is supplemented by cold-home vulnerability indicators across the four Ofgem Route 2 proxies. Referrals are typically routed through the council's home-energy efficiency signposting service.
Cadent Gas's North West network operates the gas mains across all SK1–SK8 postcodes — the same GDN that covers Manchester, Liverpool and Bolton. 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 publishes an indicative pricing tool for households needing a new connection.
Stockport's cotton-and-hat-belt terraces — Edgeley, Reddish, Heaton Norris, Shaw Heath and Cale Green — typically combine a solid-brick front with a cavity rear extension. 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. Rising damp on streets close to the Mersey and Goyt is a common finding — not ECO4-funded but often flagged during the PAS 2035 retrofit assessment.
Often yes. Stockport Homes manages the borough's ex-council stock, with Brinnington (SK5), Adswood (SK3) and parts of Offerton (SK2) holding the largest concentrations of pre-1980 social-rented dwellings. Where the original boiler is still in place or has been replaced with a non-condensing combi in the 1990s, an A-rated boiler swap plus loft top-up and cavity-wall fill is the standard package. FTCH is in scope where Economy 7 storage heaters remain.
Sometimes — the southern Stockport semis (Marple, Bramhall, Hazel Grove, Cheadle Hulme) are mostly inter-war and post-war owner-occupied stock with cavity walls and gas central heating already in place. Many sit at EPC band C or higher and fall outside ECO4 scope. Where they sit at band D with a non-condensing boiler, the A-rated boiler swap is in scope.
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 Stockport 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
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2024-01-18
Stockport Metropolitan Borough 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 — Stockport metropolitan borough (E08000007)
Dwelling counts for Stockport (2021 Census)
Stockport Council — Local Plan housing evidence
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. SK1–SK8 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.
