A lot of landlords write off ECO4 the moment they realise their tenant doesn't claim a qualifying benefit like Universal Credit or Pension Credit. That's only half the picture. Every metropolitan borough in England and Wales can, in principle, run its own "flexible eligibility" route into ECO4 alongside the national benefits route — a route usually shortened to LA Flex.
We haven't independently confirmed that St Helens operates a live LA Flex Statement of Intent for landlord referrals — councils publish, update, and occasionally quietly pause these documents, and there's no central register. Before assuming a St Helens rental is ineligible on the benefits route alone, check with the council directly (search "St Helens ECO4 Statement of Intent") — the alternative route is worth £5,000–£15,000 of grant value on a single qualifying measure, so a phone call is well-spent time.
St Helens sits inside a dense private rental market where a small portfolio of terraced or period stock is typical. Each of those properties is assessed individually against St Helens's criteria, not as a portfolio, so a landlord can easily have one qualifying property and one that doesn't in the same street.