Is There an ECO5? The Honest Answer

The short answer: no, there is no ECO5

If you have seen a website, a cold call, or a social media post promising “ECO5” or “new free insulation grants from April 2026”, you can safely ignore it. There is no ECO5. The government has not created a fifth phase of the Energy Company Obligation, and it has confirmed it does not intend to.

The Energy Company Obligation has run through four phases: ECO1, ECO2, ECO3, and the current ECO4. Each phase placed a legal duty on large energy suppliers to fund energy-efficiency measures in lower-income and vulnerable households. In the November 2025 Budget, the government confirmed there will be no successor supplier obligation after ECO4. In plain terms: the model of forcing energy companies to pay for insulation is being wound down, not renewed under a new number.

So anyone advertising “ECO5” is either mistaken or using an invented label to make a sales pitch sound official. Treat it as a warning sign, not an opportunity. Our insulation grant scams guide covers the wider pattern of made-up scheme names.

What is actually happening with ECO4

ECO4 is still open. That is the real, current scheme, and it was recently extended.

Originally ECO4 was due to end on 31 March 2026. Following a government consultation, the response published on 23 January 2026 confirmed the scheme is extended by nine months to 31 December 2026. It covers Great Britain only — England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.

A few important points about how ECO4 works:

• You do not apply to Ofgem directly. You go through an obligated energy supplier or an accredited installer, or through your council under the ECO4 Flex (LA Flex) route.
• It is a “fabric first”, whole-house scheme, so it looks at your whole property rather than funding a single measure in isolation.
• Suppliers may stop taking new referrals before the end date once they have met their targets, so the practical window can close earlier than 31 December 2026.

If ECO4 is what you are really looking for, read our full ECO4 grant guide and check whether you qualify using the eligibility checker.

Why people think a new scheme is coming

The confusion is understandable. Two things happened around the same time, and clickbait sites blurred them together.

First, the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) closed on 31 March 2026. It ran from March 2023 to March 2026 and was not extended. The gov.uk eligibility checker for it is now shut. Some sites, not realising it has ended, still present it as open — or they assume a replacement must be arriving to fill the gap. It is not. See our ECO4 vs GBIS comparison for how the two schemes differed.

Second, the government published the Warm Homes Plan on 21 January 2026 — a £15 billion umbrella programme aiming to upgrade up to five million homes. This is where future support is heading, but it is not “ECO5”, and you do not apply to it directly. It is a funding pot that pays for delivery schemes run by councils and the devolved nations.

Here is the honest picture of what is open, closed, and coming:

Scheme	Status	Notes
ECO4	Open until 31 December 2026	Great Britain only; via obligated suppliers or council Flex route
GBIS	Closed 31 March 2026	No successor; never present as currently available
”ECO5”	Does not exist	No supplier obligation planned after ECO4
Warm Homes Plan	Announced 21 January 2026	£15bn umbrella; funds delivery schemes, not applied to directly
Warm Homes: Local Grant	Open (England)	Council-run; the main new route replacing GBIS in England

So how will insulation help be funded instead?

The direction of travel is away from supplier obligations like ECO and towards grant-funded schemes delivered by government and local authorities. The Warm Homes Plan is the umbrella; the schemes below are how the money actually reaches households.

England. The main new route is the Warm Homes: Local Grant, delivered by your local council at no cost to you, running from April 2025 to around 31 March 2028. To qualify your home usually needs an EPC of D to G, plus one of: a household income of roughly £36,000 a year or less; a qualifying means-tested benefit; or an eligible low-income postcode. It covers both on-gas and off-gas homes and can fund wall, loft and underfloor insulation, heat pumps, controls and solar. Grants have been reported up to around £30,000 per home, though the gov.uk apply page states no fixed maximum, so check current gov.uk guidance. Availability varies council by council.

Scotland. ECO4 applies, and alongside it there is the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan, Warmer Homes Scotland, and council-run Area Based Schemes. The HES Grant has no benefits test and offers up to £7,500 (75% of cost) for energy-efficiency measures, with a £1,500 rural or island uplift. Everything runs through one gateway: Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282.

Wales. ECO4 applies, plus the Welsh Government’s Warm Homes Nest scheme for insulation and heating. Confirm Nest’s exact eligibility and any caps against nest.gov.wales before relying on specific figures.

Northern Ireland. ECO4 and GBIS never operated here. Support comes through the Affordable Warmth Scheme (via the NI Housing Executive, for households with total gross income under £23,000) and NISEP schemes run by electricity suppliers.

Our nation guides go into the detail for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Whatever your nation, never mix a scheme from one country with another — a Scottish grant does not apply in England, and vice versa.

What this means for you right now

If you were waiting for “ECO5” or a mythical April 2026 relaunch before doing anything, do not wait. There are real, open routes today:

• ECO4 is live until 31 December 2026, but referrals may close earlier.
• England — the Warm Homes: Local Grant is open now through your council.
• Scotland and Wales — Home Energy Scotland and Warm Homes Nest are open.
• Northern Ireland — the Affordable Warmth Scheme is open.
• Anyone in Great Britain paying for their own insulation currently benefits from 0% VAT on qualifying materials under the Energy-Saving Materials relief — a genuine saving even without a grant. Confirm the current rate against HMRC VAT Notice 708/6.

A sensible first step is to check your EPC rating, because nearly every insulation grant is gated on a poor EPC, usually D to G. From there, our grants and funding hub lists every live scheme, and our how to apply guide walks through the process. If you are not on benefits, there are still routes open to you — see insulation grants if you are not on benefits.

The honest bottom line

There is no ECO5. ECO4 is the last phase of the Energy Company Obligation, it runs until 31 December 2026, and it has no direct successor. Future support is being channelled through grant-funded schemes under the Warm Homes Plan, delivered by councils and the devolved nations — not through a fifth ECO phase.

Applying to any real scheme is always free, through official channels: gov.uk, your local council, Home Energy Scotland, or the NI Housing Executive. If someone contacts you out of the blue selling “ECO5” grants or asks for money upfront, walk away.

You can read the government’s own confirmation on the ECO4 extension response{rel=“noopener” target=“_blank”}, the now-closed Great British Insulation Scheme page{rel=“noopener” target=“_blank”}, and the Warm Homes: Local Grant page{rel=“noopener” target=“_blank”}. If you would like a plain-English check of which live scheme fits your home, use our eligibility checker or get in touch.