What Replaced the Great British Insulation Scheme?

The Great British Insulation Scheme launched in 2023 to help a broad range of households, including some middle-income homes in lower council tax bands, fit a single insulation measure such as cavity wall or loft insulation. It ran alongside ECO4 but with wider eligibility. The scheme's referral service closed on 31 March 2026, in line with the end of the current Energy Company Obligation period. If you applied before it closed and work was already arranged, your installer should see it through, but no new applications are being taken. The good news is that two other schemes have absorbed the demand, and between them they cover most households that GBIS would have helped.

The schemes have changed quickly over the past few years, which is part of why so many homeowners are unsure what is open. Setting them on a timeline makes the picture clearer. The Great British Insulation Scheme launched in 2023 to sit alongside ECO4 with wider eligibility, then closed to new applications on 31 March 2026. ECO4 has run throughout and continues until 31 December 2026. The Warm Homes Local Grant, part of the government's Warm Homes Plan, launched in April 2025 and runs until 31 March 2028, so it overlaps with both. The effect is that there has been no real gap in support; as GBIS wound down, the Warm Homes Local Grant was already running, and ECO4 carried on. For most households the question is not whether help exists but which of the current two schemes they qualify for. It is worth ignoring older articles that still describe GBIS as open, because the scheme names and deadlines have moved on. Insulation Quotes Walsall keeps these guides current so you are not relying on out-of-date scheme names, and you can always check the live position before you apply.

ECO4 is the closest thing to a direct replacement for low-income households: it is fully funded, so eligible homes pay nothing, and it can cover loft, cavity and solid wall insulation. The Warm Homes Local Grant is the newer scheme with the longer runway, administered locally and worth up to £15,000 for efficiency measures.

GBIS was more generous on eligibility than the schemes that remain, so some households who would have qualified for GBIS may not meet the income or benefit tests for ECO4 or the Warm Homes Local Grant. If that is you, it is still worth checking the Warm Homes Local Grant, whose £36,000 income threshold is reasonably wide, and your local authority's LA Flex criteria, which can broaden eligibility for ECO4. Even if you do not qualify for a grant, insulation still pays for itself: loft and cavity wall insulation typically recover their cost within three to five years through lower bills, as our savings guide explains.

The Great British Insulation Scheme was designed to reach further up the income scale than ECO4. It used council tax bands as a rough proxy for who needed help, so some middle-income households in lower bands could qualify, and it typically funded a single measure such as cavity wall or loft insulation rather than a whole-house package. ECO4 and the Warm Homes Local Grant work differently. Both target lower-income households more tightly, both expect an EPC D to G rating, and both can fund more than one measure at once. The table below shows the practical contrast, which explains why some former GBIS-band households now need to check their eligibility more carefully than before.

If you do not fit either national scheme, local support can still help. In Walsall, the Walsall Energy Action Project (WEAP) offers free home energy visits that include thermal imaging to show exactly where heat escapes, plus air-quality and carbon-monoxide checks and tailored advice. WEAP runs until March 2027 through six Community Energy Hubs. Neighbouring areas have their own services: Staffordshire Warmer Homes covers Staffordshire and Cannock, and Warm and Well Telford supports Telford and Wrekin residents. These services often act as a front door, assessing your home and pointing you to the national grant you qualify for. They are independent of any installer, so the advice is impartial. Insulation Quotes Walsall is also independent: we help you compare accredited installers once you know which route fits, rather than carrying out the work ourselves.

1. 1Check whether you qualify for ECO4 (act first, as it closes in December 2026) or the Warm Homes Local Grant.
2. 2If you do not qualify for a grant, weigh up self-funding, starting with the cheapest, fastest-payback measures.
3. 3Compare quotes from vetted, accredited installers rather than accepting the first offer.

Read our full 2026 grants guide for the eligibility detail, then compare free quotes from installers covering Walsall and the West Midlands.

For many households the answer is yes, because the cheaper insulation measures pay for themselves quickly even at full price. Loft insulation costs around £500 to £1,500 and typically recovers its cost in three to five years through lower bills, then keeps saving for the rest of its roughly 40-year life. Cavity wall insulation sits in a similar range with similar payback. Solid wall insulation is the measure where a grant matters most, because its high cost stretches payback to 10 to 20 years on its own. So if you miss out on ECO4 and the Warm Homes Local Grant, a sensible plan is to self-fund the loft and any cavity walls first, where the maths is strongest, and only tackle solid walls if funding becomes available. Our cost guide for Walsall sets out the figures, and Insulation Quotes Walsall can connect you with accredited installers whether or not a grant applies.

With the Great British Insulation Scheme closed, the practical next step for a Walsall homeowner is to check the two schemes that remain open. Start by finding your home's EPC rating on the free government register, because both ECO4 and the Warm Homes Local Grant target properties rated D to G. Next, check whether anyone in the household receives a means-tested benefit, which opens the ECO4 benefits route, and whether your income sits below £36,000, which can qualify you for the Warm Homes Local Grant. If neither obvious route fits, Walsall Council's LA Flex rules may still let you apply through ECO4. A free WEAP home energy visit is a sensible way to confirm which measures your home needs first. Once you know what you qualify for, Insulation Quotes Walsall can connect you with vetted, accredited installers who handle grant-funded work, whether or not a grant applies in the end.