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 WS1–WS10 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 Walsall Council's August 2024 LA Flex Statement of Intent, you can apply for a 100% free ECO4 boiler replacement. Walsall is on the Cadent West Midlands gas network.
Pillar guides: Free boiler upgrade · ECO4 eligibility · LA Flex grants
WS1–WS10
Postcode coverage
Cadent
Gas Distribution Network
LA Flex active
Walsall Council
£0
Cost to qualifying households
There are two routes for Walsall 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? Walsall Council runs its own referral route through the LA Flex Statement of Intent.
Bottom line: If your address is in WS1–WS10, you claim a qualifying benefit or fall under Walsall Council's LA Flex criteria, and your EPC is D-G, the eligibility check is a 49-second form.
Walsall's stock is dominated by pre-1939 working-class terraces, a legacy of its 19th-century leather, saddlery and iron-foundry industries. Chuckery, Palfrey, Caldmore, Pleck and the inner streets around the town centre carry the densest concentration of Victorian and Edwardian terraces, many with solid-wall construction, original sash sashes and non-condensing combis fitted in the 1990s. Bloxwich and Birchills hold older pit-village terrace runs from the South Staffordshire coalfield era. The post-war picture adds 1950s and 1960s council estates at Beechdale, Goscote, Blakenall Heath and parts of Pelsall, plus 1970s low-rise blocks at Darlaston and Willenhall. By 1937 some 2,262 Walsall houses had been declared unfit across 107 slum-clearance areas — the surviving inter-war stock replaced these. For ECO4, Walsall is a strong city for combined boiler-replacement and insulation packages on the Victorian terraces and for First-Time Central Heating on the older ex-council estates.
Total dwellings
117,000
as of 2021 Census
Private sector
—
owner-occupied + rented
Social housing
—
registered providers
Bottom line: Walsall'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 WS1–WS10 postcode.
~10 m connection
£500–£800
50 m+ connection
£1,500–£2,500
If your property is already on the gas main — most Walsall 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 Walsall address (WS1–WS10) 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 Walsall 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, solid-wall front, cavity-wall rear extension
Existing system
EPC band E — 1997 non-condensing combi at end of life, gravity-fed copper pipework, no TRVs
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 £600–£800. £0 paid by the household.
Time on site
Boiler swap and cavity-fill completed across two days on site.
Illustrative — based on typical WS1–WS10 installs, not a single named customer.
Bottom line: Typical Walsall 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 WS1 Chuckery pattern above is representative.
Total install value typically £4,000–£8,000.
Most Walsall 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 Walsall.
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 Walsall ECO4 job runs five to seven weeks. The wizard above is the fastest start — or call +44 7375 868046.
Walsall 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 Walsall Council's LA Flex referral. A cold-sensitive health condition can substitute for the income test.
Yes. Walsall Council publishes its ECO4 and Great British Insulation Scheme Statement of Intent at V3 (August 2024) and runs a referral pathway via the council's home-energy team. The council also publishes separate installer and canvasser guidance to keep doorstep selling honest.
Cadent Gas's West Midlands network operates the gas mains across all WS postcodes. 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.
These pre-1919 inner-Walsall terraces typically combine a solid-brick front wall 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. Solid-wall insulation on the front is in scope where the property is not in a Conservation Area, and is funded under ECO4 alongside the boiler swap.
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. Walsall's ex-council blocks at Beechdale, Goscote, Blakenall Heath and parts of Pelsall are connected to the Cadent mains even where individual flats are not yet hooked up.
Those carry the oldest stock in the borough — late-Victorian coalfield-era terraces with solid-wall construction, often EPC band F or worse. They are a primary catchment for ECO4 because the SAP-uplift potential from a boiler-replacement-plus-insulation package is the highest in Walsall. The PAS 2035 assessment normally identifies a phased package: boiler and loft first, then cavity or solid-wall insulation, then heating controls.
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 Walsall 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
Walsall Council — Energy Company Obligations (ECO4) page
last updated 2024-08-01
Walsall 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 — Walsall metropolitan borough (E08000030)
Dwelling counts for Walsall (2021 Census)
Walsall Council Local Plan housing evidence base
Regional EPC band distribution
Page reviewed: .
49-second form. No commitment. No cost. WS1–WS10 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.
