Whether you're an energy company, installer, private landlord, or housing provider, as experts in the retrofit space, we're here to help deliver the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS).
What is GBIS?
Previously known as ECO+, the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is part of the UK Government’s Growth Plan. Running from April 2023 to March 2026, it offers an additional £1 billion to retrofit private homes with insulation.
GBIS aims to reach a wider pool of customers and provide low-cost insulation energy efficiency measures quickly, ensuring that more households receive timely support.
How does GBIS work?
Under GBIS, energy suppliers are obligated to implement low-cost insulation energy-efficient measures in private homes. Ofgem sets specific targets for each supplier, which are determined based on their share of the domestic gas and electricity market. This approach ensures that energy suppliers make a proportional contribution to enhancing energy efficiency across households in Britain.
How can AgilityEco support you?
Installers
Join our national installer network and benefit from our comprehensive support with funding, compliance, and technical monitoring to maximise your GBIS opportunities.
Installers who join our GBIS network can benefit from our industry-leading team's expertise:
- Access to our online platform: Seamlessly upload your completed projects along with supported evidence and data.
- Accurate validation: We quickly review your projects for any errors and suggest necessary amendments or improvements.
- Quality assurance: We ensure your projects meet the highest standards through thorough checks.
- Support with compliance: Receive regular training, quality checks, and expert validation to ensure you meet all requirements.
- Continuous access to funding: We ensure a steady stream of work with prompt processing and payment of all submissions.
- Training and industry updates: Stay informed with training to navigate the GBIS landscape and receive regular insights into compliance and policy changes.
Energy suppliers
We have over a decade of experience in the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and GBIS space and can help you meet your GBIS obligations while ensuring high-quality and consistent service.
Our extensive installer network provides cost-effective solutions to achieve your GBIS targets. Our Compliance team ensures adherence to Ofgem regulations through a thorough onboarding process, while our Resolutions team addresses post-submission queries and supports you during Ofgem audits.
Private landlords and housing providers
We can help you access GBIS funding while ensuring that your property meets the essential Energy Performance Certificate rating requirements. Our skilled team manages everything from grant applications to installation.
Local authorities
We bridge the gap between energy suppliers and installers, ensuring that residents in your community receive the help they need.
Our team can support you in a number of different ways:
- Identifying eligible households: We can help identify households that meet the GBIS Flex eligibility criteria and refer them to the appropriate energy suppliers or installers
- Coordinating installations: We coordinate the installation of energy efficiency measures, ensuring that the work is completed to the required standards
- Administrative support: We can handle the necessary paperwork and documentation, making the process smoother
Frequent asked questions about GBIS
The Great British Insulation Scheme expands the eligibility criteria from ECO4 by including two eligibility groups:
General eligibility
This group includes households not eligible for support under other ECO schemes. It covers all households in Council Tax bands A-D in England, A-E in Scotland, and A-C in Wales, with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D and below. Council tax banding is used as a proxy for income since other eligibility criteria do not apply.
By including this broader group, more households are supported with energy-saving measures. It also enables more cost-effective delivery of these measures to more homes by reducing search costs.
Low-income
This group targets low-income households in Council Tax bands A-D in England and A-E in Scotland and Wales, with Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) ratings of D, E, F, and G, mirroring the eligibility criteria of ECO4.
To qualify for the GBIS, properties in EPC bands E, F, or G must prove they cannot meet the minimum energy efficiency improvement requirements of ECO4. This ensures that support is targeted without overlapping with ECO4.
Under the LA and Supplier Flex programmes, local authorities and suppliers can refer private tenure households that they believe to be in fuel poverty or on a low income and vulnerable to cold homes. Suppliers can also independently refer households based on their own debt data as long as these households meet specific criteria, such as receiving a Council Tax reduction.
For the general eligibility group, private renting households can access higher-cost measures, which may require a contribution from the landlord, but are not eligible for loft or cavity wall insulation. However, they can access other types of insulation, such as solid wall, solid floor and room-in-room insulation, unless they fall within the low-income group (EPC bands F and G).
Under GBIS, both the general and low-income groups are eligible for a range of insulation measures. These include:
- Cavity wall insulation
- Flat roof insulation
- Loft insulation
- Park home insulation
- Pitched roof insulation
- Room-in-roof insulation
- Solid floor insulation
- Solid wall insulation (both external and internal)
- Underfloor insulation
Both ECO and GBIS are government initiatives focused on improving energy efficiency in UK homes, but they have some differences:
ECO targets low-income households and those facing fuel poverty. approach, addressing the entire home with multiple improvements, including insulation, heating systems, and renewable technologies.
In contrast, GBIS focuses on a single-measure approach to install cost-effective insulation to maximise bill savings for a wider range of households.