Government consults on extending the end date for ECO4

On 29^th August 2025, UK Government released a consultation looking at extending the Energy Company Obligation scheme (ECO4) for 6 to 9 months. This consultation is currently open to responses until 25^th September 2025.

What is the ECO4?

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme is a government energy efficiency scheme that provides funding to low-income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households to heat their homes. The latest iteration, ECO4, launched in 2022 and will currently run until 31st March 2026.

ECO4 targets the least energy efficient homes in the UK, specifically those that have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D or lower. Through the scheme, these homes could receive heavily discounted or free home insulation, green heating systems or an upgraded boiler.

What is proposed in the consultation?

The consultation mainly proposes extending ECO4 for a further 6 to 9 to maintain support for households and provide an opportunity for stronger consumer protections under the scheme. Some other proposals under the consultation include:

• No extension to GBIS – the end date remains 31 March 2026.
• Allow suppliers to carry-over up to 20% of ECO4 obligation into future schemes to help reduce compliance risks and uncertainty for the supply chain.
• Solid wall minimum requirement and EFG minimum requirement remain unchanged.
• Changes to improve consumer protection such as increased audits and increased sharing of data between relevant parties, as well as updated PAS 2035/2030 retrofit standards applying during the extension
• ECO4 carry-over scores could be converted into future scheme scores using either a global ABS conversion factor or a measure-specific factor, with suppliers able to choose their preferred method.

Elmhurst are working on formulating a response to this consultation and will share it with their members once it is ready. Elmhurst welcomes any approach to improve consumer protection and the availability of funding to achieve improvements on homes across the UK.