Guidance

Applying for funding for the Cladding Safety Scheme

Updated 20 December 2024

Applies to England

How the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) works and how to apply

Initial application

To apply for funding from the Cladding Safety Scheme all applicants^{[footnote 1]} must apply online.

In the first part of the application you will need to provide key information including:

• details about the building
• details about the Responsible Entity and their key contact. If a representative^{[footnote 2]} is applying on behalf of a Responsible Entity^{[footnote 3]}, then we will ask for evidence that they are authorised to do so along with their key contact
• evidence of leaseholder engagement – we expect that leaseholders are informed about the intention to apply for funding^{[footnote 4]}
• information about alternative sources of funding that have been explored or are in progress
• details of the bank account that funding will be paid into should the application be eligible.

Leaseholder engagement

You must provide evidence throughout your application and project that leaseholders have been kept informed and that they are aware of the following:

• you have applied to the CSS
• you have completed a FRAEW, which includes a clear outcome, outlines building safety issues and proposes a solution with next steps
• information on the procurement of contractors and options being submitted for approval

We will ask you to provide evidence of leaseholder engagement throughout the lifetime of the works programme. This is a condition of your grant payment.

Information required on the bank account to be used for receipt of grant funding

Whilst the grant funding agreement will always be made with the Responsible Entity, we’ll pay the grant to the organisation that lets the contract to fix the building and pays the contractor and other professionals. So, you need to first decide who will perform this role - the Responsible Entity or their representative.

If you’re a Responsible Entity based outside the UK, you must use a representative in the UK to administer the funding and provide their bank account details.

Paying a representative

If you decide that the representative will perform this role, provide details of the bank account they’ll use to pay the contractor and receive the grant funding. In the case of representatives, we’ll only pay the funds into a bank account protected by the Client Money Protection Scheme or an equivalent. We’ll ask you to provide evidence that your (or your representative’s) organisation is registered under a Client Money Protection Scheme (CMPS). This regime includes CM Protect, UKALA, RICS, NALS, ARLA Propertymark and Money Shield. Where a representative is unable to evidence their registration via a suitable CMPS they will be required to enter into a deed of trust with Homes England.

Paying a Responsible Entity

If the Responsible Entity is paying the contractor and receiving the grant, they should provide their own bank account details. We’ll also ask that the Responsible Entity enters into a legal agreement called a deed of trust, which is sent with the grant funding agreement. The deed of trust is to reassure us that the funds will be used to pay for agreed works to fix the cladding, including design and project management. The money we pay into your nominated bank account cannot be used for any other purpose. This is to ensure that this public funding is used appropriately.

A link to the deed of trust is provided here so you can see the terms. This is for information only - we will send the actual document to be signed at the appropriate point in the process.

When applying and providing the bank account details, please ensure that you have considered the guidance above. If you intend to change the bank details at any point during the project, you must advise us immediately, and prior to the change if possible. It is possible to change bank account details but this takes time and could mean a delay to grant funding being paid.

All bank account information provided to us, is subject to an independent verification process which includes digital and telephone checks. This is to ensure that public funds are administered safely. We expect bank account owners to engage with this process in a timely manner.

The Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)

To apply to the CSS, you will need a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) that follows and meets the PAS 9980:2022^{[footnote 5]} methodology.

Homes England has set up a panel of firms which can carry out FRAEWs, who are familiar with the CSS and the scheme’s reporting requirements. Once you have submitted the information for the initial application, the FRAEW assessor panel, contact details and regions covered are visible within the system.

Please use only firms on our assessor panel to undertake a FRAEW for buildings applying to the CSS.

You’ll need to contact one of the firms on the panel to arrange and pay for the FRAEW. It’s up to you who you choose to appoint from the assessor panel. You will receive their completed report along with a standard FRAEW summary. You will need to upload both the report and the summary and, input the information from the summary into the system before submitting your application.

All FRAEW evidence is reviewed and we may engage directly with the firm who undertook your FRAEW to clarify any queries alongside undertaking required assurance to ensure a consistent approach across the scheme.

All FRAEW commercial and contractual arrangements are to be managed between the applicant and the panel member. Homes England does not take responsibility for relationship management between parties.

If the building is determined as eligible for the fund, reasonable costs associated with the FRAEW will be reimbursed as part of the grant funding at a later stage. We will not make any financial payments for buildings which are not eligible or do not need remediation.

If you cannot afford a FRAEW please contact us and your application will be referred for hardship consideration. This will include reviewing accounts and looking at where alternative funds could be sourced. If Homes England is satisfied there is legitimate hardship, we will appoint and pay for a firm to carry out the FRAEW.

From 1 November 2023 all FRAEW’s submitted to the Cladding Safety Scheme must have been completed by a firm on the assessor panel.

Once you receive your FRAEW and summary and have input it into the digital system, you can submit your application. It is only after you complete the declaration and submission that your application is moved to the next stage.

Eligibility Review

On submission of your application we will complete legal and project-related due diligence on the information you have provided. By submitting your application, you’re agreeing that these checks can be done and the information has been shared in line with the privacy notice.

These checks will include but are not limited to:

• KYC (know your customer) checks on the responsible entity and representative (if applicable)
• checks on the ownership structure and eligibility of the building
• checks on the directors of the responsible entity and signatories supplied in your application
• review of the FRAEW report and summary information alongside any additional assurance we have sought.

Once we’ve reviewed your completed application we’ll confirm whether our checks and outcome of the FRAEW have resulted in an eligible decision. If you are not eligible or we have concerns over the assessment, we’ll write to you to explain the reasons for rejection or seek further clarification.

Pre-tender support

If your application is confirmed as eligible, we may offer pre-tender financial support. This is to assist you in taking the next steps in your project, including:

• appointing a professional team
• designing the works
• carrying out a competitive tender to undertake the work

Pre-tender support is an advance of the full grant funding award under CSS. It forms part of the total grant awarded — it is not a separate award. Any costs covered by your pre-tender support payment must be included in your costs schedule when you submit your Works Package later in the process.

Pre-tender support is calculated as 15% of the estimated cost of your works as set out in your FRAEW report and is subject to a cap.

We will let you know the amount of pre-tender support you will be paid once your application to the Cladding Safety Scheme is confirmed as eligible.

If at any stage your CSS application turns out to be ineligible, we will recoup the value of this initial pre-tender funding from you. In addition, Homes England reserves the right to recover this funding under certain circumstances. For example, if you:

• do not progress with designing your works package
• do not begin obtaining quotes and tenders
• do not use the funding for the purpose intended or agreed

You provided us with proposed signatories as part of your initial application. Within your eligibility letter, we will ask that you notify us if those details have changed before we send you the grant funding agreement to sign.

If you’re not sure who the correct signatories are, please check with your legal advisor before completing this section, after noting the information below within the grant funding agreement section of this guidance.

The grant funding agreement

The grant funding agreement (GFA)^{[footnote 6]} is the legal contract between Homes England and the Responsible Entity.

The grant funding agreement has been built based on previous industry dialogue. It has been tested with users and is a non-negotiable document. If applicants would like to receive publicly funded grant monies to assist with their building remediation, they must agree and adhere to the terms of the agreement.

In cases where a representative is appointed to lead the application, and in some cases manage the funding, the GFA must still be signed by the Responsible Entity. Applicants should be aware that the commitments given in the GFA will apply to the Responsible Entity exclusively and if it chooses to appoint a representative to act on their behalf, they should be confident that the representative is aware of and will meet Homes England’s requirements as expressed in this guidance and (separately) in the GFA.

The signatories for the grant funding agreement should be the directors or other individuals authorised to sign legal agreements for your organisation. This would be the same for the deed of trust, if needed.

The GFA must be signed by all parties prior to any funding being paid. On signing the GFA, pre-tender support (where applicable) will be paid. Following the subsequent approval of a works package, a works package deed will also need to be signed by all parties and will supplement the GFA in terms of funding and timescales that have been agreed for the project.

We have made a copy of the GFA available so you can see the terms. The template is for information only - we will send you the actual copy we want you to sign if your building is eligible. This is a non-negotiable standard form document and should you wish your legal advisors to review, we suggest that you do so upon applying to CSS as this will speed up your application later into the process.

Progress Reporting (pre-works package)

After all parties have signed the GFA, we will ask you to complete the primary progress report on the system. Progress report links are opened at the start of each month and you will be required to complete these to update us on progress with your project.

The progress reports will ask for information on the following:

• if you have communicated progress to your leaseholders and evidence to support this
• details of appointments to your project team (project manager, quantity surveyor, fire engineer, lead designer and lead contractor) – name, company etc
• progress towards issuing a tender for the works
• whether your project needs planning permission and if so, where the application is up to
• the month in which you expect to submit your works package including the breakdown of costs for the works

If you’re unsure about how to begin to appoint your professional team, we suggest you initially look to appoint a project manager or cost consultant/quantity surveyor with experience in this type of construction work who should be able to guide you through the process.

Within each monthly reporting stage you will be asked if you require any support. Please use this opportunity to tell us if you do and we will contact you to discuss matters and to agree how to assist you to move the building remediation forward.

Once you have submitted your first monthly report, you will find that subsequent months pre-populate certain information for you. Before submitting subsequent reports, check that this information remains current and if not, over-type as appropriate.

The monthly reporting activity is really important and we will monitor both the timeliness and quality of submissions. We will engage with you where these are not being submitted as agreed in your contract.

Compiling your works package

Once the GFA is signed and you have completed your primary report, you will be able to start compiling your works package.

The works package will auto-populate with any information you have submitted in your progress reporting but in any event will need to provide the following:

• full details of your appointed project team including their contact information
• confirmation of your grant certifying officer (see below)
• planning permission progress
• full proposed cost schedule (see below)
• details of any third party financial contributions to the project
• key dates for project including start on site, date of cladding removal, as appropriate and completion date
• updated signatories if applicable

You will need to appoint a professional team, scope the project and develop a works specification. The pre-tender support payment is designed to help with this and you should have the correct project team in place to begin this stage.

When you appoint your team, your lead designer will have the main responsibility for designing and specifying the works - who fulfils this role can vary depending on the type of construction contract proposed. If your professional team is carrying out all the design and specification of the works, it’s likely that the lead designer will be a member of the team such as an architect or a façade engineer, etc. If you are advised to use a ‘Design and Build’ type contract, the lead contractor may also carry out much of the design and will be the lead designer.

You must not appoint any party who was involved with the original works which are now being addressed by the CSS without prior specific agreement from Homes England. Consent will only be given by exception where we’re satisfied that appointing someone associated with the original installation is appropriate.

The grant certifying officer and duty of care deed

You will need to nominate either your quantity surveyor or project manager to act as the grant certifying officer^{[footnote 7]} for your project. The grant certifying officer and their ‘consultant’ firm must be independent of the Responsible Entity. The grant certifying officer will sign off individual grant claims and must:

• be qualified in their field
• be a member of a professional body
• hold professional indemnity insurance
• be knowledgeable and have significant experience relevant to the specific technical aspects

The firm that your grant certifying officer works for will need to enter into a duty of care deed with the Responsible Entity and Homes England. The duty of care deed is a legal document. It ensures that the individual and the firm^{[footnote 8]} who sign off monthly grant claims have a duty of care to Homes England in undertaking the work as well as their responsibility to their client.

A template duty of care deed is made available so that the grant certifying officer form can see the terms https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cladding-safety-scheme-grant-funding-agreement-and-associated-legal-documents. This is for information only. We will send the actual document to be signed at the appropriate point in the process.

If the grant certifying officer and/or the firm they work for changes during the course of your project, you will need to let us know straight away by emailing [email protected]

If the firm has changed, we will send a new duty of care deed to be signed by both the firm and the Responsible Entity and returned to us for signing and completion. You will not be able to draw down further funds until the new documents are signed and returned, and completed by Homes England, and all the relevant conditions have been met.

Changes to the grant certifying officer where the firm does not change do not need a new duty of care deed.

Cost schedule

You can only submit your cost schedule and works package once you have tendered and selected a preferred contractor to carry out the works. At that point, you’ll be able to provide the cost breakdown and answer the full works and costs related questions.

In addition to the cost information we will also ask you to:

• confirm if you obtained competitive bids for the work and explain why, if not
• identify the subcontractors that will be working on the project
• confirm the cladding and insulation (type and manufacturer) that will be replacing the unsafe cladding being removed from your building

We will ask for a high-level breakdown of costs across the following areas:

• cost of removing unsafe cladding (if applicable)
• cost of installation of new cladding (if applicable)
• preliminaries, access costs, main contractor’s overheads and profit
• other costs (including FRAEW cost and irrecoverable VAT, reasonable costs of managing and administering the funding, and liaising with leaseholders and residents)

Compiling this information may require feedback from a number of people so we have provided a Microsoft Excel template within the system for you to download and collate the information prior to inputting it.

We expect costs, including fees to be reasonable and comparative within the market, and this will be checked as part of the review of your works package.

The costs you submit via the works package need to be for the whole project, including any expenditure incurred in the pre-tender stage. This enables us to consider the costs at project level prior to making a grant funding award. Later in the process you will be asked to account for the pre-tender support payment already made.

The cost schedule must show 100% of the costs. Where applicable, Homes England will apportion the costs for eligible units as part of the grant funding calculation. Do not submit pre-apportioned amounts as this may result in an incorrect grant award.

Should you have received any third-party contribution, be it an offer or actual payment, do not include these in the cost schedule. As above, the cost schedule must show 100% of the costs. You can add the details of the contribution separately as part of the works package and the system will include these in the calculation of grant funding.

You may be planning to undertake other works which you will fund yourself, alongside the works eligible for CSS funding. When we ask for a breakdown of costs, we also ask for high-level detail on the costs of any other ineligible works you are undertaking as part of the same works contract. This allows us to check that your monthly claims relate only to eligible costs while understanding the wider project and associated timelines.

If, once you have submitted your works package, you need to make any changes please contact us so that we can discuss those changes and update the project as needed.

VAT

You should only claim for any VAT you cannot recover - we call this irrecoverable VAT.

Snagging (the correction of faults) is often carried out after the building has been ‘completed’. Provided the replacement cladding or other works forms part of the original construction, and the person requesting the cladding or other works had an interest in the building during the construction works, then the replacement cladding may qualify for the zero rate as snagging. This work may form part of a building contract with zero-rated VAT.

Further information on the conditions of snagging can be found in the Construction VAT Manual VCONST02600 and paragraph 3.3.3 of VAT Notice 708.

For further information on VAT on remedial works, please refer to HMRC’s guidance for buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) and HMRC internal manual: VAT construction.

Works package review

Once you have submitted your works package, we will review it and carry out additional checks including but not limited to reviewing the following:

• the appointments of a professional team with appropriate qualifications, skills and experience and professional indemnity insurance
• whether your costs for eligible works are reasonable and have been obtained via a competitive process
• when you will start on site or execute the works contract. For the avoidance of doubt, this means when all parties formally agree and sign the final agreed version of the works contract
• whether you have, or when you will have all statutory approvals
• your forecast start on site and practical completion dates
• leaseholder and resident engagement

We will contact you to clarify any questions or concerns we have and will work with you to address these. Upon the conclusion of our review, we will confirm the decision and next steps via email and the system. You can use this communication as proof of funding in principle to help you execute a works contract.

If your works package and costs are approved, you will receive the formal works package deed to sign. This in effect updates the grant funding agreement signed prior to pre-tender support to reflect the agreed grant payment total for the eligible works. Once executed by Homes England, this will be shared with you.

Project delivery

After you’ve been awarded funding and signed the works package deed, we’ll ask you to enter into a works contract with the main contractor.

Arrangements where third parties who are not the applicant, enter into a works contract on the applicant’s behalf will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances (for example, where two entities are responsible for works on different parts of the building). In such cases, we may ask for additional documentation showing how the funding we’ve provided is distributed between multiple entities, and their associated responsibilities.

One party cannot provide full consultancy services and act as, or appoint, the lead contractor. We’ve laid out below works contract requirements and other information you’ll need throughout your project.

Works contract requirements

The works contract should include the following:

A principal designer, for the purposes of Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 (CDM Regs), must be named in the works contract and must meet the level of competence outlined in the regulations.

A contract administrator (CA), employer’s agent (EA) or architect must be named in the works contract. They must be responsible for administering the contract for the duration for the works. The CA, EA or architect must be a member of a chartered professional body (i.e. RICS, RIBA, CIOB etc) and appropriately experienced for the scale of the proposed works.

The main contractor named in the works contract must be appointed as the principal contractor under the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 (CDM Regs). The principal contractor must meet the level of competence described in the regulations and, if requested, evidence must be produced to verify this.

A quantity surveyor or cost consultant must be named in the contract and be responsible for contract valuations and cost monitoring. The quantity surveyor or cost consultant must be a member of a relevant chartered professional body (i.e. RICS).

A defects rectification period of a minimum of 12 months must be included in the contract and a minimum of 2.5% of the overall works contract value must be held as retention for this period. In addition, the works contract must include a provision for a minimum of 5% of the overall works contract value to be held as retention from commencement until practical completion of the works.

Adequate professional indemnity insurance must be stipulated in the works contract if the contractor is responsible for any design work. Its protection must cover the nature of the works and must not exclude cladding.

The contract must include an arbitration and/or adjudication procedure for dispute resolution.

The works contract must be executed as a deed, and this forms the works package deed. Evidence will need to be available on request that the contract has been executed as a deed to provide the maximum latent defects liability period.

Planning and building control

As part of any application, you should contact local authorities^{[footnote 9]} and building control to facilitate the timely completion of design and development work to achieve an early start on site.

There will be a lead-in time to apply for and obtain planning permission. Your professional team will be able to advise you if planning permission is needed for your proposed works. Note: planning permission is distinct from building regulations approval which will always be required.

Building regulations

Building work carried out on a building must meet building regulations (The Building Regulations 2010), including minimum standards for fire safety and energy efficiency. (Please note these may be amended from time to time and following the introduction of secondary legislation pursuant to Part 3 of the Building Safety Act 2022.)

To ensure energy efficiency standards, building works to the external envelope of a building should adequately account for any changes in thermal bridges which may occur because of the work. They must also maintain or enhance the thermal performance of the external envelope of a building, where technically and economically feasible.

You may also wish to consider if there is an opportunity to use the project as a low-cost way to implement further energy efficiency measures that go beyond the current minimum requirements of the building regulations. Implementing other low-cost energy efficiency measures at the same time as works relating to the life safety fire risks associated with cladding may save you further cost and resource in the future. This is not mandatory and will not be considered as a condition of receiving funding. Any additional costs for these works, above those recommended in the FRAEW, should not form part of your application for CSS funding.

Schedule of works

Initial pre-tender support may have been paid to you upfront. The remaining grant award to enable you to complete the works will be paid monthly in arrears based on submission of your claims containing evidence of expenditure. Your chosen contractor must be made aware of the monthly payments schedule (in arrears) during the procurement process. They must also agree with the reporting schedule to enable applicants to meet the terms of the grant funding agreement.

Following the approval of the works package, the signing of the works package deed with Homes England and entering into the works contract, you will then need to create your schedule of works.

At this stage we will be asking for further information about your project delivery, which includes:

• providing the signed works contract
• uploading evidence of Building Control approval for works (Local authority or approved inspector for under 18 metres, or the Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 approval if your building is over 18 metres or 7 storeys or more)
• confirmation of the start and end months for the forecasted payment claim schedule
• a monthly cashflow for eligible costs that were approved as part of the works package (‘costs profile’)

It is expected that the contractor and project team should be able to provide the information to complete the forecasted costs schedule.

The start month given for the first payment request must be at least one month in the future. This is because CSS payment links open at the start of each month, so you must submit your schedule of works in advance of month end to ensure sufficient time for this to be reviewed and approved ahead of the system generating your first scheduled payment link. You cannot submit a schedule of works with a start date in the current month.

The information provided in the schedule will give us a picture of when you hope to complete your project and a monthly profile of your project’s grant claims and payments. Grant is paid monthly in arrears and we require confirmation from the grant certifying officer at each monthly claim that the works have been undertaken and the incurred costs are eligible for funding.

The cost profile submitted at schedule of works is your initial forecast, which we will rely upon. We understand that things can change over the course of a project and each month you will have the opportunity to amend the forecast in line with changes.

Once you have submitted your schedule of works, we will review this to ensure that the overall cost profile reflects the grant funding award. As a condition of funding, 5% of the total grant award is retained. At this point we will adjust your final monthly claim to reflect the 5% retention. The final payment of 5% will be paid on full completion of the project and subject to you providing evidence of achievement in line with the contractual requirements as set out in the closing report.

If we have any queries relating to your schedule of works submission, we will contact you before progressing a decision. Once approved, you will receive an email notification and will be able to see your approved schedule, including the 5% retention within the system.

Self-certification

You must self-certify several critical aspects concerning your project and application.

Self-certification is the process whereby the applicant provides assurance (with recourse to third parties) that they and their supply chain have complied with all their contractual obligations to Homes England in completing the works to cladding. For example, you must certify that all parties contracted to you to deliver the works related to life safety fire risks associated with cladding have complied with the requirements of their respective contracts.

As part of the grant funding agreement, you must confirm that your self-certification statements are correct and accurate. If you are using a representative to act on your behalf, you must satisfy yourself that the project documentation and professional appointments have been correctly established in line with the requirements set by the CSS.

You’ll need to put processes in place that provide evidence to enable you to self-certify. These processes should help you confirm that the works are being completed correctly and in line with the fund requirements.

Your contractor must ensure that all non-conformances or defects are reported and demonstrate to your project manager that they have been satisfactorily resolved. We require you to make sure your contractor implements and confirms a system for the provision of evidence at all points throughout the works as part of their management and project administration arrangements. Once the works are complete, a certificate should be signed between you and the contractor to confirm that the works have been completed to the required standard outlined in the fund requirements.

Monthly payment requests

The Cladding Safety Scheme pays funding monthly in arrears. Your chosen contractor must be made aware of the monthly payments schedule (in arrears) during the procurement process. They must also agree with the reporting schedule to enable applicants to meet the terms of the grant funding agreement.

In order to receive payment, you will need to complete and submit a monthly payment request in the system. You will be required to submit the payment request within the first 4 working days of each month to ensure you are paid promptly and within the calendar month.

Your bank account must be active when you submit a payment request. Late requests for changes may result in a delay processing your payment. If you need to change the bank details for your application, you must let us know immediately and prior to the change if possible.

In addition to the request for funding, each month you will need to provide some information about your project. This will include:

• confirmation of the grant funding you wish to claim
• a signed cost report from your grant certifying officer, as below
• your latest project milestone dates
• whether your project costs have changed
• if there have been any changes to your project team

Payment will be contingent on a cost report signed off by your grant certifying officer for eligible expenditure to date.

The cost report must:

• be signed, dated and submitted by the grant certifying officer
• be on their firm’s headed paper
• include the building name
• include the Cladding Safety Scheme application reference number

The cost report should cover invoices received, using the format dd/mm/yyyy. The breakdown of claim should include these 5 entries (all exclusive of VAT), including nil, if applicable, for amounts included in this claim:

1. Works

2. Professional fees in relation to works

3. Managing agent’s and other fees

4. Other costs

5. Ineligible VAT

The sum of these 5 entries should amount to the total claim.

If the cost report does not fully align to the payment request, the claim will not be approved. We will contact you to work through any discrepancies, but this may result in a rejected claim, partial payment or delayed payment approval.

For funding to be paid, you must ensure that payments by you to your advisers and works contractor are made only in respect of work completed. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that payments are made on time to the consultants and contractors to prevent avoidable delays. Costs associated with these delays are not eligible for funding. We will not accept arrangements which are not industry standard, under which consultants or the contractor are paid in advance of the satisfactory completion of works.

First payment request

The first payment request for a project will need to cover the information set out above. For applications that received a pre-tender support payment, you will need to supply additional evidence at this point.

Please ensure that the uploaded cost report covers the full pre-tender amount received as well as any additional eligible project costs that have been incurred to date.

For example, if an applicant received £200,000 of pre-tender support and there has been further expenditure incurred of £50,000, the first payment request will be for £50,000 but the cost report will be for £250,000.

If the cost report for the first claim does not cover the full amount of pre-tender support paid, then the monthly claim will not be approved. You will be asked to resubmit your first monthly claim when the pre-tender support payment has been exhausted and you have incurred additional expenditure.

Variations

You must manage the total eligible costs of your project within the grant funding amount you are awarded. We appreciate that circumstances change, and costs may increase due to unforeseen overruns or alterations to the scope of the contract. If that happens, you’ll need to apply via the system for a variation to the grant sum that was approved under your grant funding agreement (GFA). Homes England commit to considering such requests as swiftly as possible and will confirm in writing if your request is approved.

We appreciate that there may be certain circumstances where the project costs can decrease as well as increase. Where that is the case, please contact us directly to discuss the changes.

Variations in grant sums may be permitted for (but not limited to) the following reasons:

• to comply with statutory requirements (e.g.building, town planning or CDM regulations, etc.)

Homes England reserves the right to consider each application to vary the grant on its own circumstances and merits and is under no obligation to approve these.

Construction contracts differ in the placement of liability in relation to variations. The cost variation will only be permitted if the liability for the variation is neither yours nor the contractors.

Consultants, such as designers, have responsibilities under their professional appointments. If the additional project costs have arisen through the inadequate performance of a consultant’s duties under their appointment, the sum may be recoverable from the consultant or from their professional indemnity insurance (PII). In these circumstances, we’ll expect you to recover the costs from the relevant consultant, or their insurer, and additional grant sums will not be made available.

The party responsible for valuing variations would usually be named in an industry-standard construction contract. In addition to the named party’s contractual responsibilities, it is advisable that the same entity be responsible for submission of applications for variations in grant sums on your behalf as nominated representative.

The party responsible for submission of the application will need to provide details of the cost variations and how they have been calculated. Costs could be related to:

• professional fees
• construction costs
• site set-up and preliminaries
• a combination of the above

If cost variations are being sought, you must retain information to prove that the cost variations relate only to the works permitted for grant funding and/or works needed to facilitate them.

We’ll rely on your grant certifying officer to rigorously check all costs and they’ll have to enter into a duty of care agreement with Homes England.

Practical completion - scheme exit

At the point of practical completion for your project, you must provide Homes England with evidence of sign off from your grant certifying officers and building control and the final account information.

Homes England will also require the FRAEW following PAS 9980:2022 methodology to be updated to consider the work which has been done to address the life safety fire risks associated with the cladding and external wall systems present on the building and to confirm that these risks have been reduced to a level that places overall fire safety risk at the building to a tolerable level (as produced following the methodology set out in PAS 9980: 2022).

Homes England may engage its cost consultants to work with you when settling the final accounts. You’ll get a list of documents that your grant certifying officer must supply at the point of practical completion. Homes England recommends that you ensure contractual arrangements with your grant certifying officer include an obligation that these documents are given to you on request.

You’ll be asked to provide a certificate at, or as soon as is reasonably possible following practical completion of the project which evidences all funding authorised during the project, any funding amounts provided, and any resultant overspend or underspend. The cumulative funding provided figure is also the figure which will be published on the subsidy transparency database.

If you believe that practical completion has been achieved but has not yet been certified by your professional team and/or building regulations final certification has not been provided, Homes England will not be liable to make any final payments until the relevant certification has been provided. In these circumstances, the applicant should liaise with its contractor to ensure that any part of the works requiring action is satisfactorily addressed so that full sign off can be produced.

Open book access

The CSS processes follow the government’s approach to open-book contract management. These help Homes England maintain a clear line of sight between the cost requirements for eligible works compared to the Homes England funds granted. A low cost, minimal open-book approach is applied, which gives us assurance that value for money is being achieved, as required by Managing Public Money for Government grant schemes.

Therefore, you’ll need to submit any relevant supporting documents requested by Homes England. You’ll need to keep on record any other documents that you’ve confirmed you have obtained so they are available on request. The grant funding agreement stipulates that Homes England and appointed third parties are given access to required information and documentation.

During works, Homes England has the right to request from you cost details and any supporting documentation. The CSS will retain specialist support (e.g., legal, commercial, technical advisors) who will have the same open book access rights.

After completion, a sample of projects may be randomly selected or targeted for potential government audit activities (e.g. National Audit Office value-for-money studies). You’ll be responsible for providing your own resources for these audits. We recommend that you allow for this potential scope in your consultants’ appointments. Funding such activity is not an eligible cost.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the application process, please see the Homes England complaints procedure.

1. A person who submits an application. The applicant may be the Responsible Entity or a representative of the Responsible Entity. ↩

2. A representative is somebody authorised to act for and on behalf of the Responsible Entity in the application to the CSS. ↩

3. The party responsible for the external repair of the building and therefore the potentially eligible recipient of grant funding. ↩

4. Code of practice for the remediation of residential buildings. ↩

5. A code of practice which sets out a method for competent professionals to conduct Fire Risk Appraisals of External Wall construction (FRAEW) for existing multi-storey, multi-occupied residential buildings. ↩

6. The contractual agreement between the Agency and the applicant which will provide the details of the grant funding along with conditions that must be met to receive that funding. ↩

7. Homes England considers that the function of the ‘grant certifying officer’ who will undertake submission of the works package can be carried out by either a quantity surveyor or a project manager where in both cases they have the relevant skills and expertise. The grant certifying officer and their ‘consultant’ firm must be independent of the Responsible Entity. ↩

8. An experienced or otherwise professionally qualified construction professional able to give estimates, and advice regarding the cost of construction works. ↩

9. The elected body of local government for a particular geographical area. ↩