Free Boiler Upgrade Scheme 2026 Backed by the UK Government (ECO4)

“Free boiler upgrade scheme” isn't a scheme in its own right — it's the everyday name for what the government's Energy Company Obligation 4 (ECO4) delivers when the measure installed is a boiler. ECO4 is a legal obligation, regulated by Ofgem, that requires large energy suppliers (British Gas, E.ON, EDF, Octopus, OVO, Scottish Power and others) to fund energy-efficiency improvements including boiler replacements, insulation and heating controls in eligible homes across England, Scotland and Wales.

If your household receives a qualifying benefit and your home has an old or inefficient boiler, you could get a brand-new A-rated boiler installed at no cost to you, with the bill picked up by the energy supplier as part of their government obligation — not by FreeBoilerUpgrade.uk and not by the taxpayer directly.

What FreeBoilerUpgrade.uk actually does: we check your eligibility against ECO4 and LA Flex criteria, help you complete the paperwork, and connect you with Gas Safe registered installers in your area. We are not the government, not an energy supplier, and not the installer — we're the eligibility and application layer in between.

Free Boiler Upgrade UK is a TrustMark-approved, Gas Safe registered ECO4 eligibility and application-assistance service operating nationwide across England, Scotland and Wales, helping low-income and fuel-poor households access a fully funded boiler upgrade under the government's Energy Company Obligation scheme (Company No. 16100301).

If you don't receive a qualifying benefit, you're not automatically excluded. Local Authority Flexible Eligibility (LA Flex) lets your council refer households for the same free ECO4 measures based on low income or vulnerability to living in a cold home — for example, a health condition made worse by cold housing, or a household income roughly under £31,000. Each council sets its own local criteria, so the fastest way to find out is to run the same eligibility check — it screens for both routes at once.

If neither ECO4 nor LA Flex applies to your circumstances, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is a separate no-benefits route for lower-income homeowners in England (household income typically under £36,000), running until March 2028 — worth asking about if you're told you don't qualify here.

If you've seen mentions of a “£7,500 boiler grant,” that's a different scheme — the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which funds heat pumps, not gas boiler replacements. BUS doesn't require you to be on benefits, but it's aimed at replacing a boiler with a heat pump rather than a like-for-like gas boiler swap. If you're weighing up a heat pump instead, our heat pump grant guide covers BUS eligibility separately.

ECO4 is confirmed by Ofgem to run until 31 December 2026, following a nine-month extension from its original March 2026 end date. Applications need to be completed, not just started, before that date — energy suppliers process on a first-come, first-served basis as their budgets run out. After ECO4 closes, the main successor route for eligible households is expected to be the Warm Homes Plan and the Warm Homes: Local Grant (already running, to March 2028), though funding levels and criteria for any replacement scheme aren't guaranteed to match ECO4's. If you think you qualify now, it's worth checking sooner rather than later.