Has Any Landlord Actually Managed to Access EPC Upgrade Grants?

Accessing ECO4 is best done by the tenants direct, it helped that mine were registered disabled, on benefits and the building EPC rating was a low D.

As I recall they contacted ECO4 who put them in touch with an authorised company.

We discussed what was possibly available and put in for internal insulation and solar-panels, I’d replaced the boiler 2 years before so it was already an ‘A’. The company’s survey determined that internal insulation would move the property from D to C, so no solar panels. I was later told that solar-panels are rarely given due to HMG being on the hook for millions due to some past energy payback deal.

The work was well done, with much care taken not to disrupt the tenants too much. In fact they discovered and repaired issues with the double glazing that was only 2 years old. (I swear double glazing is the bane of my life as a landlord). Again it helped that one of the tenants is a retired builder with a keen eye for detail.

A subsequent independent EPC survey came back with a high C and my tenants are, as they say ‘toasty warm’ for a lot less money.

The only two negatives are you need to get an independent EPC survey, the work company are apparently not allowed to EPC grade their own work, (this may have changed now).

The work does NOT include redecoration of the property, so although we got £7500 EPC work done for ‘free’ I was left with a £2500 redecoration bill.

The danger pitfall is you must ensure that the company doing the work is authorised/registered with ECO4, should something go wrong you have a comeback etc.

I am pleased to hear that Tim Rogers had a good experience with EC04. I had a nightmare with a local council scheme in 2022/3, in one of my properties. It was newly-converted in 2008, and given an EPC of E/53. So legal to let out. One of the requirements of the local gov scheme was that it had to be independently assessed, which found that it had an EPC of G/11 (!) The scheme rules stated that any property entering the scheme had to be legal to let out, ie it had to be a minimum of an E. So the local authority threatened to take me to court for letting out a property illegally!! I had no option but to do work on the property to bring it up to a legal EPC, all without any grant. So it is now a D/67. Once bitten twice shy…. EPCs are desperately inaccurate, in my view. But the moral is, ensure that any scheme you enter does not have a current minimum EPC requirement.

Little or no grants in Northern Ireland as far as I know
In Scotland any landlord with 3 or more properties are not allowed any help.
Yet they would have low income tenants.
This may of changed anyone know if you can please comment

I have several properties with tenants who work, but still receive benefits as low income families.
Last year I asked three of them to apply for funding for insulation as I could not, but they could. One epc was a C and two were a D – all of them got refused.
The government say one thing, but then actively avoid any help in trying to keep a roof over peoples heads, despite our “housing emergency”. As you may guess, the properties will be sold at the first opportunity due to the current climate stacked agains landlords, and despite me looking for ways to retain properties to let, the powers that be just keep putting in more barriers.

We’ve supported a number of landlords to upgrade old boilers to air source heat pumps using the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), so it definitely is working in practice. The scheme applies to rental properties as well as owner-occupied homes, and it can make a big difference to improving EPC ratings.

A few quick points from our experience:

1) Support that is actually open to landlords
The BUS grant is currently the main route for heating upgrades. It contributes £7,500 towards replacing a gas or oil boiler with a heat pump.

2) Eligibility checks
The property needs a valid EPC

3) What the funding covers
We apply for the funding on the landlord’s behalf and deduct it directly from the cost of the installation. You don’t have to handle the grant paperwork yourself.

Most of the issues here come down to landlords not getting straight answers or dealing with companies who don’t understand the funding rules.
This is exactly what we help with.
If your property is EPC D, E, F or G, and your tenant is on any qualifying benefit or has a household income under £31k (or certain health conditions), we can check eligibility in minutes and handle the whole process:
• Free EPC check
• Free funding check (ECO4 / GBIS)
• We deal with the paperwork, the installer, and the compliance
• No upfront cost to the landlord
• You only focus on granting permission — we manage the rest
We’re currently helping landlords upgrade insulation, heating and, in some cases, solar — improving EPC ratings at no capital outlay.
If anyone wants a straight answer or wants us to do an eligibility check on their property, just visit our website and we will sort it.

Reply to the comment left by Amy Harris at 21/11/2025 – 16:27
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Reply to the comment left by energysavingnetwork.com at 21/11/2025 – 16:58
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There is a rollout of the Warm Homes Local Grant scheme by some local authorities in England. The grant covers full costs to improve one property, and half of the costs for any other properties requiring upgrades.

The tenant must be eligible for the grant in terms of household income/benefits receipts or other conditions.

Here is the website link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-warm-homes-local-grant

I don’t speak from personal experience of the scheme however that’s one that could be relevant for you.

I have three properties currently D. Ive been told that these are too high for grant funding as the work needs to result in an uplift of at least 2 grades abd getting to B is almost impossible.