Free boiler replacement for disabled people in 2026: PIP, Attendance Allowance, LA Flex and Disabled Facilities Grants

Plenty of websites still say PIP gets you a free boiler. Under ECO4, the energy supplier scheme that funds free boilers and insulation, it doesn't. Disability benefits were on the list for the previous scheme and were left off when ECO4 began on 27 July 2022.

Disabled people aren't shut out, though. Ofgem's own guidance says households with disabilities can qualify through a means-tested benefit or through one of the four LA Flex routes that councils run. A PIP, DLA or Attendance Allowance award notice is accepted evidence for one of those routes. Outside ECO4 there is the Disabled Facilities Grant in England, and in Scotland there is Warmer Homes Scotland, which still treats Scottish disability benefits as a passport.

This guide takes each route in turn: who it suits, what evidence you need and what happens after ECO4 closes on 31 December 2026. We're an ECO4 installer, so we have an interest in you applying for ECO4. Where another scheme fits you better, we say so.

Why PIP and other disability benefits don't qualify for ECO4

Under ECO3, the scheme before ECO4, the "help to heat group" included PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, Carer's Allowance and five other disability-related benefits. You can read that list in Schedule 2 of the ECO3 Order 2018.

The ECO4 Order 2022 replaced it with a shorter list. Every benefit on it is means-tested, apart from Child Benefit, which only counts when household income is under a cap. Ofgem lists the current qualifying benefits as:

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
• Pension Credit Savings Credit
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Child Benefit, subject to an income cap that depends on who lives in the home

Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit were on the original ECO4 list, but Ofgem notes both ended on 5 April 2025. You also don't need to be the person on the benefit. Ofgem says a supplier can fund work for anyone who lives with a qualifying claimant in the same home.

Disability benefits aren't means-tested. GOV.UK says you can get PIP "even if you're working, have savings or are getting most other benefits". Ofgem says ECO4 places "greater focus on low income, fuel poor and vulnerable households" than earlier schemes. A benefit paid whatever your income tells a supplier nothing about income, and that is the most likely reason it was dropped. Ofgem states the result in paragraph 3.132 of its ECO4 delivery guidance:

"Households with disabilities would be eligible only where they are in receipt of a means tested benefit or found eligible under one of the four routes outlined in ECO4 Flex."

So the useful question for a disabled household is whether anyone in the home gets a means-tested benefit. If nobody does, the next question is whether your council's Flex scheme will take you. Our page on boiler grants for PIP claimants covers PIP on its own in more depth.

Which benefits qualify? A benefit-by-benefit table

The table covers the main disability and carer benefits and the means-tested benefits that often sit alongside them. The energy rating rules for the home still apply on top.

If you're on PIP and nothing else, keep reading. Pension Credit and LA Flex are both worth checking before you give up on ECO4, and so is the full ECO4 eligibility guide.

Pension Credit: worth checking if you get Attendance Allowance

Pension Credit is an ECO4 qualifying benefit, and disability benefits can raise the amount you're entitled to. GOV.UK says Guarantee Credit tops up weekly income to £238 for a single person or £363.25 for a couple. On top of that you can get an extra £86.05 a week for severe disability if you get Attendance Allowance, the middle or highest care rate of DLA, the daily living part of PIP or Adult Disability Payment, or Pension Age Disability Payment. Other conditions apply. Carers who get Carer's Allowance or Carer Support Payment can get an extra £48.15 a week.

Because those extras raise the amount your income is topped up to, someone who looks too well off for Pension Credit may still qualify. If you're over State Pension age and get Attendance Allowance but have never claimed, check it. A successful claim also meets the ECO4 benefit test.

LA Flex: the main ECO4 route for disabled people

LA Flex lets councils declare a household eligible for ECO4 when nobody in it gets a qualifying benefit. A council can only do this after publishing a Statement of Intent, so the first step is to check that yours has one. Flex is for private homes only, meaning owner-occupied or privately rented. Our LA Flex scheme guide explains how it works in general. For disabled people, three of the four routes matter.

Route 2: your PIP, DLA or Attendance Allowance award as evidence

Route 2 needs at least two of seven "proxies" (paragraph 3.188). Proxy 3 is being vulnerable to the cold under NICE guideline NG6 for a reason other than low income. NICE names people with disabilities in that group, and notes that a disability can stop people moving around to keep warm or make them more likely to develop chest infections. Ofgem's local authority guidance lists the evidence a council can accept for a disability. It names a PIP award notice, a DLA award notice and an Attendance Allowance award notice. A signed letter from your GP or another health professional, sent from an NHS email address, also works.

One proxy isn't enough. You need a second, and it can't be proxy 1, which is living in a deprived area. The second proxy can be any of these:

• Council Tax Reduction on the grounds of low income (proxy 2)
• a child in the home who is eligible for free school meals on the grounds of low income (proxy 4)
• support from a council scheme that has found you on a low income and vulnerable to the cold (proxy 5)
• a referral to the council by your energy supplier, Citizens Advice or Citizens Advice Scotland because you're struggling to pay your energy bills (proxy 6)

If you get Council Tax Reduction because your income is low, that and your PIP award cover both proxies. Your documents should be dated no more than 12 months before the council signs its declaration, so find your most recent award letter. Route 2 also has a stricter property rule than the other routes. The home must have an EPC of E, F or G, whether you own it or rent it privately.

Route 3: a referral from your GP or NHS team

Route 3 is for a household where someone has a severe or long-term health condition that living in a cold home makes worse. Ofgem limits it to conditions due to a cardiovascular condition, a respiratory disease, limited mobility or immunosuppression (paragraph 3.194). If your disability limits your mobility, this route may fit.

The referral has to come from someone on the GP register, a health board in Scotland, an NHS foundation trust or an NHS trust. It should be sent from an NHS email address, or on headed paper with a GP practice stamp, and Ofgem publishes an NHS referral letter template your GP can use. Ofgem's rules for Route 3 contain no income test, but check your council's Statement of Intent for local conditions.

Route 1: household income under £31,000

Route 1 needs no health evidence. If the gross income of every adult in the home adds up to less than £31,000 a year, the household qualifies, whatever the size of the home or the region (paragraph 3.185). Ofgem counts lodgers and relatives who live there permanently. Ask your council how it treats benefit income when it adds up the total.

Energy rating rules for each route

Route 4 lets a council propose its own way of finding low-income and vulnerable households, which the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has to approve. Ask your council whether it runs one.

A word on timing. LA Flex installations have to be finished by 31 December 2026, the same deadline as the rest of ECO4. The council has to issue a declaration on top of the survey and the work, so don't leave it until December.

Will ECO4 replace your boiler or start with insulation?

Qualifying is the first test. ECO4 also decides what it can fund in your home. Before an owner-occupied home in band E, F or G can get any heating measure, all its outside-facing cavity walls and its loft or roof must be insulated, either already or as part of the same job. A band D home getting a new boiler needs at least one insulation measure first, unless it is already fully insulated. The whole project then has to lift the home's rating, to at least band C for a band D home.

For boilers, Ofgem splits heating into efficient and inefficient (paragraph 5.123). A non-condensing boiler is inefficient, and Ofgem says inefficient heating systems are eligible for "uncapped upgrades" to efficient heating. A condensing boiler is efficient. If it has broken down, ECO4 can repair it when that is economic, or replace it like for like, but Ofgem caps that kind of work. Ofgem treats a boiler as broken down when, connected to its fuel and electric supplies, it doesn't respond properly to a demand for heat. Our guide to ECO4 broken boiler replacement covers the detail.

For a disabled person, the insulation-first rule can be a nuisance. Loft and wall work means more people and equipment in the house, and sometimes clearing a loft. Tell the surveyor about your needs before they visit, so the plan can allow for access, timing and keeping you warm while the heating is changed.

Private renters and social housing tenants

If you rent privately, ECO4 is a poor fit for a new boiler. Ofgem says that "in general" replacing, upgrading or repairing a boiler is not eligible in privately rented homes (paragraph 3.79). There are narrow exceptions, such as first-time central heating or renewable heating. GOV.UK adds that private renters need the owner's permission.

Council and housing association tenants can't use LA Flex, because Flex is for private homes only (paragraph 3.178). Ofgem lists the ECO4 measures for social housing in band E to G as insulation, first-time central heating, renewable heating and district heating. A replacement gas boiler isn't among them.

For tenants with a disability, our view is that the Disabled Facilities Grant is usually the better route. GOV.UK says tenants can apply, as well as owners and landlords.

Disabled Facilities Grants: heating that meets a disability need

A Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is the one grant written with disabled people's heating in mind. GOV.UK lists providing "a heating system suitable for your needs" and adapting heating controls to make them easier to use among the things it can pay for. The law behind it, section 23 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, covers improving a heating system to meet a disabled occupant's needs, or providing one where there is none or the existing one is unsuitable.

That wording matters. A DFG won't replace a boiler because it's old. The council has to be satisfied the work is "necessary and appropriate" for the disabled person and "reasonable and practicable" for the building. Controls a wheelchair user can't reach, or a system that can't keep a room warm enough for someone with a heart or lung condition, are the kind of cases that can fit.

The government's DFG guidance for councils in England is explicit about heating. It says heating systems and insulation can count as adaptations, and it treats "living without heating or hot water and at risk" as an urgent case.

How much, and who can apply

• Up to £30,000 in England. Some councils give more.
• The amount depends on household income and on savings over £6,000. The English guidance lets councils skip the full means test if you already get certain means-tested benefits.
• A disabled child under 18 can get a grant without the parents' income being assessed.
• The application can come from the owner, the tenant or the landlord.
• The disabled person must intend to live in the home for the grant period, which GOV.UK says is usually 5 years but can be shorter.
• The grant won't affect any benefits you get.

How to apply

Apply to your council. An occupational therapist may visit to assess what you need. The council must give you a decision within 6 months, and the work should be finished within 12 months of the grant being approved. Don't start work before the council approves your application, because you might not get any grant. GOV.UK says the government funds an organisation called Foundations that can help you apply. If you're refused, complain to the council first and then to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Scotland: adaptation grants instead

Scotland doesn't offer DFGs. The Scottish Government's guide for homeowners says councils pay a mandatory grant of 80% of the cost of essential adaptation work, or 100% for people on certain means-tested benefits. You need an assessment from social work or an occupational therapist first. The guide dates from 2011 and doesn't mention heating, so ask your council's social work team whether a heating change counts. For heating in Scotland, Warmer Homes Scotland is the more direct route.

Warmer Homes Scotland: where disability benefits still count

In Scotland, a disability benefit on its own can still lead to a new boiler. Warmer Homes Scotland, which you apply for through Home Energy Scotland, accepts any of these at any rate as a passport benefit:

• Adult Disability Payment
• Pension Age Disability Payment
• Child Disability Payment
• Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance
• Carer Support Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• War Pensions Mobility Supplement

The list also takes means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, income-related ESA, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit and Council Tax Reduction. The 25% council tax discount on its own doesn't count. You can also qualify with no benefit at all if someone in the home is 75 or over and has no working heating, or holds a DS1500 or BASRiS certificate.

PIP, UK Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance aren't on the Warmer Homes Scotland list. That gap is closing, because Scotland is moving people onto its own benefits. mygov.scot says Pension Age Disability Payment is replacing Attendance Allowance in Scotland, that PIP awards may already have moved to Adult Disability Payment, and that Scottish Adult DLA is replacing DLA for adults. Check which benefit your latest award letter names.

The home has to be owned by you or rented privately, and you need to have lived there as your main home for at least 6 months, unless you hold an SR1, DS1500 or BASRiS. It needs a poor energy rating, a floor area of 230m² or less, and a council tax band of A to G. Private tenants need the landlord's permission. Measures include insulation, central heating including a new gas boiler, storage heaters, air source heat pumps and renewables. Home Energy Scotland says contributions are rare, and an interest-free loan may cover one.

Call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282. The scheme depends on Scottish Government funding, so apply sooner rather than later. If you live in Scotland and get Adult Disability Payment or Pension Age Disability Payment, we'd apply to Warmer Homes Scotland first and check ECO4 alongside it while ECO4 lasts. Our Scotland page covers ECO4 there.

Wales and Northern Ireland

We don't cover Wales or Northern Ireland. In Wales, see the Welsh Government's Nest scheme or call 0808 808 2244. In Northern Ireland, see the Housing Executive's Affordable Warmth Scheme, which you apply for through the Northern Ireland Energy Advice Service on 0800 111 44 55.

What happens after ECO4 ends on 31 December 2026

ECO4 was due to end on 31 March 2026. An amendment order made on 25 March 2026 extended it by nine months, to 31 December 2026. There won't be another supplier obligation after that. The government's Warm Homes Plan says supplier obligations are closing because they "did not represent strong value for money". It promises £15 billion of public investment to upgrade up to 5 million homes. Our Warm Homes Plan guide explains what is in it.

For low-income households in England, the main grant now is the Warm Homes: Local Grant. Councils run it for privately owned homes rated D to G, usually where household income is £36,000 or less. GOV.UK lists insulation, air source heat pumps, smart controls and solar panels. Gas boilers aren't on the list. The government plans to merge the Local Grant and its social housing fund into one low-income scheme from 2027/28. We couldn't find published rules for that scheme when we checked on 15 October 2026.

Our view: if you need a gas boiler replaced and you qualify for ECO4 now, 2026 is the year to do it. From 2027 the public money goes to insulation and low-carbon heating, and the Warm Homes Plan doesn't fund gas boilers. Disabled Facilities Grants are a separate grant under the 1996 Act, so ECO4 ending doesn't change them.

What to do next

1. Check every benefit in the household, not only yours. A partner or relative on Universal Credit or Pension Credit who lives with you can qualify the home for ECO4.
2. If you're over State Pension age, check Pension Credit, especially if you get Attendance Allowance or care for someone.
3. If nobody gets a qualifying benefit, find your council's LA Flex Statement of Intent. Gather your PIP, DLA or Attendance Allowance award notice and evidence of a second proxy, or ask your GP about a Route 3 referral. Do it well before 31 December 2026.
4. Find your home's EPC rating. ECO4 needs D to G for owners, and LA Flex Route 2 needs E to G.
5. If the heating doesn't meet a disability need, contact your council about a Disabled Facilities Grant, and don't start work before it's approved.
6. In Scotland, call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 about Warmer Homes Scotland.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All sources were checked on 15 October 2026.

About this guide

Who wrote it: the ApplyFreeBoiler Team. ApplyFreeBoiler.uk is run by Reliant Energy Solutions Ltd, an ECO4 heating and insulation installer. We survey and install ourselves in England and Scotland. We have no part in running Disabled Facilities Grants, Warmer Homes Scotland or council LA Flex schemes.

How we checked it: every rule, amount and date was checked on 15 October 2026 against the sources listed above. Paragraph numbers refer to Ofgem's ECO4 delivery guidance, version 4.0, unless we say otherwise.

What we couldn't confirm: the eligibility rules for the single low-income scheme planned from 2027/28, which were not published when we checked. We also can't tell you whether your own council's Statement of Intent accepts every proxy, or how it treats benefit income under Route 1. Ask the council.

Updates: we'll review this page when the government publishes rules for the 2027/28 scheme, and again after ECO4 closes on 31 December 2026.

Changelog: 15 October 2026, first published.