Night Shelter Transformation Fund: Prospectus
Published 6 June 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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Section 1: Introduction
The government is committed to ending rough sleeping and has made considerable progress in recent years to reduce the numbers of people who sleep rough on our streets. But we know there is much more to do. The annual rough sleeping snapshot for 2022 showed there were 3,069 people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2022.
Night Shelters provide vital accommodation for people experiencing rough sleeping and are a critical tool in providing safe routes off the streets for our most vulnerable.
The dedication and commitment of the faith and community sector is vital to ending rough sleeping. Now more than ever, we need to enable this impactful and important work to continue and to increase the variety and quality of services provided by the faith and community sector.
The government’s Night Shelter Transformation Fund launched in 2022 seeks to further advance the development, growth and long-term sustainability of the sector across England.
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund is available to small to medium faith and community sector organisations to enhance their services and improve outcomes for people experiencing rough sleeping.
This will be the second and final round of competition for funding via the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
Examples of the almost £10 million in grants previously approved through the Night Shelter Transformation Fund include but are not limited to capital refurbishments, recruitment of specialist staff and additional bed spaces.
Recognising the continuing challenges, this government is committing a further £3.3 million for a further round of competition for the 22-25 Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
With this funding we intend to build on the work of the first round of competition by providing support to night shelters in areas of greatest need, reducing the risk of the most vulnerable in our society retuning to the streets.
Our ambition is to provide the faith and community sector with investment to enable longer-term, sustainable transformation of services and organisations to support our shared aim to end rough sleeping for good.
Section 2: Grant summary
2.1 Purpose
The Rough Sleeping Strategy (published in September 2022) committed to a 3-year Night Shelter Transformation Fund to support the faith and community sector to embed single-room provision as standard for individuals experiencing rough sleeping and continue to move away from communal sleeping arrangements.
The fund also supports the sector to diversify its services and develop non-residential support, working in partnership with local authorities to ensure that services funded by the Night Shelter Transformation Fund help to fill gaps in local provision for people experiencing rough sleeping.
The programme will aim to provide funding for organisations in areas with the greatest need, and for organisations providing specialist services for at risk groups where gaps in provision have been identified locally.
Organisations can apply for capital and revenue funding. Revenue funding applications can be for one-year or two-year funding. Capital funding applications may only be for one-year: 2023/24.
If successful, organisations’ funding and agreed work must be spent and completed no later than the end of the relevant financial year (the final day of March in the relevant year).
We expect the Night Shelter Transformation Fund to be oversubscribed. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will prioritise funding for organisations working in areas with higher numbers of people experiencing rough sleeping and the greatest need for services funded through the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
DLUHC is also actively seeking to fund organisations who already and/or intend to provide specialist support people with specific needs (including but not exclusively women-only services and/or services for people who identify as LGBTQIA+) in areas where there are demonstrable gaps in provision for specific groups.
2.2 Type of fund
Allocative.
2.3 Eligibility
This fund is available to providers of Night Shelter provision.
“Night shelter” refers to non-commissioned emergency accommodation services, with rapid access and a low barrier to entry for people experiencing rough sleeping or at imminent risk of rough sleeping.
The fund is open to organisations who have provided night shelter accommodation on or after 2019/20.
The fund will not support bidders who have only ever provided non-residential support or have not provided such support since 2019/20.
The fund is also available to organisations who currently or intend to operate in a partnership or a consortium model. In these cases, the lead bidding organisation must be a provider of night shelter provision according to the criteria above. Please refer to section 4.3 on partnership applications for further information. for further information.
Applicants must demonstrate a specific need and targeted solution that enhances local areas’ support and reduces the number of people experiencing rough sleeping.
We expect this fund to be oversubscribed, meaning we will receive a quantity of bids that is greater than the quantity of funding available. To ensure we achieve the greatest impact, the success of individual applications may be based on a range of external factors such as the local context of existing support provision for people experiencing rough sleeping and the extent of need in the area. See section 3.1.2 for more information.
In addition, though we welcome applications for both single-room accommodation and non-residential support, it is likely that in areas of higher need, accommodation-based applications will be prioritised.
To apply you must have a letter of endorsement from the local housing authority in the area services are located. This ensures that applications complement (and do not duplicate or contradict) the council’s work and that of commissioned services.
Please note that letters should come from an officer responsible for rough sleeping within the local authority.
Supporting letters from an elected member/councillor will not be considered and so should not be submitted.
You will be asked to attach your letter during the application process, so you should ensure that you have this to hand as you complete your application.
2.4 Funding available
The fund will make one or two-year grant funding available to faith and community sector organisations supporting night shelters to provide a diverse range of quality, dignified provision for individuals experiencing rough sleeping, offering more sustainable routes off the streets.
Funding will be provided for both:
1. Enhancing or developing sustainable single-room accommodation and support for people experiencing rough sleeping.
2. Developing transformational non-residential support for rough sleepers, where applicants can demonstrate a specific need and targeted solution that enhances local areas’ support and reduces the number of people experiencing rough sleeping.
2.5 Goal
To assist the faith and community sector to provide long-term sustained transformation of accommodation and support for rough sleepers.
2.6 Key dates to note
Applications open - 7 June 2023
Applications close - 7 July 2023
Evaluation of applications - July 2023
Allocations announced - September 2023
Payment of grant (2023/24) - November 2023
Section 3: About the grant
3.1 The Fund’s objectives
3.1.1 Aims and objectives
The second round of the fund aims to provide targeted support across three objectives:
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Improve quality of off the street accommodation, particularly in areas of greatest need, supplementary and complementary to that which is provided through local authority commissioned services.
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Help reduce the number of individuals sleeping rough or requiring emergency shelter for targeted priority groups, in close partnership with local authorities and other housing-related support services.
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Make long-term sustained transformation to the provisions made by non-commissioned Night Shelter providers, including diversification of services provided, greater organisational and financial resilience, and greater sustainability without requiring government funding to meet core costs
3.1.2 Targeted criteria
To ensure we achieve the greatest impact for the second round of this fund the following additional criteria will be considered. See section 7.1 and 7.2 below for further information:
- The number of people experiencing rough sleeping and degree of need in the local area.
- The extent to which the bid proposes unique and transformative services required by the area as a whole, for example, identifying and filling a gap in local provision.
3.1.3 Prioritised criteria
In the event the fund is oversubscribed, we will prioritise bids based on the additional following factors. See section 7.1 and 7.2 below for further information.
- The extent to which the application proposes transformation of an existing service, improving the quality of provision for people experiencing rough sleeping (for example, moving from a communal night shelter to single room accommodation)
- The extent to which your application is supported by key local stakeholders for example, local authority
- The local context of the bid (is there enough bed capacity locally, what existing support services are available locally, are there particular groups who struggle to access services)
DLUHC encourages bidders to consider the ways in which this funding will be transformative organisationally, locally and individually. All bids should have a clear transformative goal in mind and a focus on long term sustainability beyond the duration of the fund. This fund will not make grants to support the maintenance of programmes already underway unless there is a clear ambition for transformation, made possible by the funding.
We want to know how you will work with local authorities and partners. This should include consideration of move-on from your provision. We will be keen to understand how provision from this fund ties to the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) funding, delivered through the local authority, as well as other national and local programmes.
Section 4: Who can apply?
4.1 Fund criteria
In order to have your application considered, your organisation must comply with the following:
- Be a small to medium sized organisation (up to £2 million annual turnover).
- Works directly with people experiencing rough sleeping in a night shelter setting.
- Has provided a Night Shelter or emergency accommodation on or after 2019/20.
- Operate and be based in England.
- Provide a letter of endorsement from the designated rough sleeping lead from the relevant local authority where your proposed project will be based.
Organisations with a higher annual turnover may apply in very specific circumstances, such as:
- Being the only emergency provider over winter in a particular area.
If this is the case, please contact us directly for advice before applying.
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund:
- The setting up or maintenance of communal night shelters.
The fund will, however, support the transformation of these services to provide single-room accommodation for people experiencing rough sleeping.
Providers of communal night shelters may also apply for non-accommodation-based funding. Communal sleeping is defined as more than one person sharing a room with another person.
In all but exceptional cases, the fund will not support the hire of hotel rooms or bed and breakfast accommodation.
To be eligible for capital funding, your organisation turnover must be a minimum of £250,000 per annum or your organisation can provide suitable assurance (such as previous history) of being able to manage a grant of this size and type.
4.2 General fund criteria
In addition to the above in 4.1, organisations must also fit the following criteria:
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Be one of the following:
- An incorporated organisation
- A company limited by guarantee
- A charitable incorporated organisation
- A community interest company
- A community benefit society
- An unincorporated organisation (Unincorporated organisations will be required to submit a copy of their full accounts (audited or independently examined) for the three most recent financial years
- If you do not fit into one of these your application may still be considered but further information about your organisation may be required during the application process (please see application form)
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Proposed activity is in line with the organisation’s charitable mission/purpose
4.3 Partnership applications
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund welcomes partnership applications. Partnership applications are applications from more than one organisation working to a common goal, this could be on a local or regional basis.
The lead organisation must be a night shelter and meet the criteria above. The night shelter must be a delivery partner, with the expectation they are delivering accommodation.
Where a support service is delivered by another organisation, the lead provider would be responsible for paying for those services. An example might be a night shelter providing accommodation, a local day centre providing casework and a substance misuse service supporting guests through treatment.
Alternatively, two night shelters operating in the same local authority area may choose to work together based on a shared need.
Partnership applications should play to the relevant parties’ strengths, and each organisation involved should have a track record of delivery in their area of responsibility within the proposal. The proposed partnership arrangements should be clearly set out as part of the application.
In a successful partnership application, a lead organisation will receive the funding, sign the Grant Funding Agreement and be responsible and accountable for the delivery of the objectives as set out in any Grant Funding Agreement.
The lead organisation will hold all financial liability for the application, as prescribed in your the Grant Funding Agreement. DLUHC and its delivery partners, Homeless Link and Housing Justice, reserve the right to conduct due diligence on any partner organisation, as well as the lead organisation.
We advise speaking to our delivery partners Homeless Link and Housing Justice before submitting a partnership application, to ensure your partnership is eligible for the Fund.
4.4 How to apply
This round of funding will open for applications on 7 June 2023 and close for applications on 7 July 2023.
Once the fund opens on 7 June 2023, applicants are required to fill in an application form using the link provided below and on the Night Shelter Transformation Fund landing page.
Please read this Prospectus before writing your responses completing your application.
Your application will be evaluated according to the aims and objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund (see section 3) and the fund criteria set out in this section (section 4).
Sector membership bodies Homeless Link and Housing Justice will work in partnership with the DLUHC to support organisations to prepare bids and implement any bids awarded funding.
See the application support in section 8 for more information about how these organisations will be able to support you in developing your bid.
Section 5: Funding available
Funding will be made available through two funding streams.
- The revenue stream will fund staff, running and operational costs – including small scale refurbishments such as painting and decorating costs.
- The capital stream will fund building-based works, including property or land purchase and significant renovations to existing sites.
Organisations can apply for one or both funding streams as long as they are for different costs.
Organisations may apply for just one year of individual funding or apply for funding across both years if applying for revenue funding.
Capital funding will only be available for the financial year 2023/24.
Organisations must apply for only one year of funding (2023/24) if applying for capital funding.
Applicants should specify the length of the funding required in their application form; please note that all funds must be spent by 31 March 2025.
If you are successful, the grant we offer you will be the maximum to be provided and non-negotiable. You should therefore ensure that all relevant costs are included in your original proposal. This includes any irrecoverable input VAT.
To note, for grant funding extending beyond 1 year: Funding will only be guaranteed for the first year of the grant, as stated in the Grant Funding Agreement. Subsequent grant payments will be subject to review by DLUHC officials.
5.1 Revenue
- For revenue, grants between £10,000 and £100,000 per annum will be available.
- Organisations with a turnover higher than £1,000,000 should seek to provide match funding for their bids, as these bids will be reviewed favourably in value for money terms.
Revenue can be used to fund:
- Revenue applications can contain up to 10% for minor capital costs such as Small-scale refurbishment (but excluding refurbishments which significantly improve existing land or building asset).
- Revenue work must be completed and spent no later than the end of the financial year (the last day in March) in which it is eligible to be spent.
- Investments in systems.
- Investments in people.
- Investments in infrastructure (but excluding purchases of buildings or land).
- Dedicated capacity development.
- Staff salaries.
- Project activities.
- Running costs including renting of premises.
- Equipment.
- Organisational development.
- Contributions to fixed costs.
Revenue can’t be used to fund
- Hotel or B&B provision except in exceptional circumstances
- Direct support for communal provision.
- Activities of a political or exclusively religious nature.
- Lobbying or activities intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties.
- Petitions for additional funding.
- Input VAT reclaimable by you from HMRC.
- Goods or services that you have a statutory duty to provide.
- Payments reimbursed or to be reimbursed by other public or private sector grants.
- Contributions in kind (i.e., a contribution in goods or services, as opposed to money).
- Depreciation, amortisation or impairment of fixed assets by you.
- The acquisition or improvement of fixed assets
- Interest payments (including service charge payments for finance leases).
- Gifts to individuals and promotional items.
- Entertaining (entertaining for this purpose means anything that would be a taxable benefit to the person being entertained, according to current UK tax regulations).
- Statutory fines, criminal fines or penalties.
- Liabilities incurred before the issue of a funding agreement unless agreed in writing by DLUHC.
- Cost reimbursed or to be reimbursed by funding from any other source.
- The Purchase of buildings or land
5.2 Capital
- Capital applications must be between £25,000 and £100,000 (or you can provide an exceptional rationale for falling within 10% of these amounts).
Capital can be used to fund:
- One off costs for acquiring, or significantly upgrading a fixed asset such as land, a building or equipment.
- Retrofitting units, long-term modular structures.
- Adding a bathroom to an HMO property.
- Improving kitchen spaces to enable single-room accommodation.
- Significant renovation or transformation of an existing asset (for example, upgrading / enhancement works).
Capital can’t be used to fund:
- Temporary enhancements such as temporary or single use structures or facilities.
- Shared sleeping facilities of any kind.
- Significant staffing costs (small amounts of staffing costs less than 10% the amount of the overall grant are acceptable).
- Standard building maintenance, repair or small-scale improvements.
Capital additional information
- Your turnover is a minimum of £250,000 p.a. or your organisation is able to provide suitable assurance (such as previous history) of being able to manage a grant of this size and style.
- If successful, your funding and agreed works must be completed and spent no later than the relevant end of the financial year (the last day in March).
- Organisations with a turnover higher than £1,000,000 (as identified in their most recently published accounts) should seek to provide match funding for their bids, as these bids will be reviewed favourably in value for money terms.
- You are enhancing a property that you either own or have a lease that is for at least £5k per annum and for at least 3 years (longer term arrangements will be viewed favourably in value for money terms).
- If you are enhancing a leased property (leasehold improvement), you will be able to provide written approval from the owner of the property for the intended works.
- You will have the required planning permission and building control approval for any works or a clear timetable to achieve this in time to deliver the planned works in principle where appropriate and you can demonstrate that this has been planned and budgeted for (for example, considers local authority planning processes and timescales).
- You will have proof (for example, quotations, cost estimates) that works will be carried out by qualified contractors (and therefore adheres to fire and safety regulations for works, as noted above) and you can demonstrate that this has been planned and budgeted for.
- All works should comply with building regulations health and safety standards and guidance – please refer to the Manual to the Building Regulations when developing your application, and we recommend that you seek advice from your local authority for further clarification. As the guidance sets out, you must ensure that any work is carried out by companies who have the necessary qualifications and accreditations to comply with the requirements of the building regulations. It is therefore critical that you employ companies who are accredited appropriately - this will be a condition of the grant agreement.
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Other considerations:
- Ownership: who owns the building?
- What is the current ‘use’ of the building? (in particular the planning class)
- What planning permission, building regulations or other legal and regulatory permissions may be required?
- Is the building listed (which grade)?
- What level of insurance does the building have?
- Have you made yourself familiar with HSE guidance for clients?
- Have you sought appropriate legal advice?
Section 6: Timeline
6.1 Dates and deadlines
Applications open - 7 June 2023
Applications close - 7 July 2023
Evaluation of bids - July 2023
Allocations announced - September 2023
Payment of grant (2023/24) - November 2023
Payment of grant (2024/25) - To be confirmed
6.2 What happens if you’re successful
If your application is successful, you will be notified by DLUHC via the contact information you give in your form. You will be sent a Grant Funding Agreement to sign; this sets out the conditions of accepting the grant and confirms that the DLUHC has entered into an agreement with the organisation. You will also be asked to return a form to register as a DLUHC supplier alongside a Grant Claim Form to claim the grant. Once these have been returned your payment will be processed.
You will be allocated a grant manager from either Housing Justice or Homeless Link. They will be your primary contact for the fund and will assist you through the process until your funding period ends.
During your funding period you will be required to share quarterly monitoring data detailing your progress with DLUHC and your grant manager. this data will contribute to an overall end-of-grant report delivered in mid-2025.
If successful, your funding and agreed works must be completed and spent no later than the relevant end of the financial year (the last day in March).
Section 7: How applications are scored
Please read this Prospectus before writing your responses. Your application will be evaluated according to the aims and objectives of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
The value for money of capital proposals will be assessed as part of the application assessment and moderation process.
The application form is divided into sections. Each question will have a percentage weighting towards the section score. Each section has a percentage weighting towards the overall score. These can be viewed below:
7.1 Section weighted criteria
Your application will be evaluated based on weighted section criteria as detailed in Table A below:
Table A1: Selection criteria
| Section | Score |
|---|---|
| Section 1. Your organisation | Not scored |
| Section 2. Your skills and experience | 15% |
| Section 3. Your Proposal | 40% |
| Section 4. Outputs and outcomes | 15% |
| Section 5. Risk and Deliverability | 15% |
| Section 6. Value for money | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
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Applications will be assessed by a panel comprising representatives of DLUHC’s Homelessness & Rough Sleeping and Commercial Grants teams, against the criteria listed in Table A2 below.
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Where questions are assessed, they will be given a score from 0-3. Bids receiving a score of 0 for any question will be automatically rejected.
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Scores will be multiplied by weightings to give a Section Score. Section Scores will be added to provide a Total Score. The Total Score will be used to rank applications.
-
The maximum total score is 300.
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Applications will be prioritised by Total Score.
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The final decision as to which application receives what level of funding will rest with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
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DLUHC reserves the right to vary these conditions and the right to either withdraw or reduce the funding if reasonably required, in line with the terms and conditions set out within the Grant Funding Agreement.
7.2 Question scoring and weighted criteria
Each application question will be scored, making up the final score for each section (as detailed in 7.1 above).
The application questions will enable us to consider and assess how your proposal meets the Fund’s objectives (as detailed in Section 3.1).
- The number of people sleeping rough in area
- The transformative potential of applicant i.e., where the organisation is in their journey
- Transformative nature of the application
- Confirming your current provision meets the definition of a night shelter
- The local context of the application
Table A2: Scoring and weighting criteria
| Section 1: Your organisation | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Organisation information | ||
| Organisation name Organisation address Which region of England do you work in? What is your organisation’s main purpose? What are your organisation’s charitable objects? What is your organisation’s annual turnover? Which membership organisations are you a member of? |
Eligibility check | N/A |
| 1.2 Organisation type | ||
| How is your organisation classified? Charity number (optional) Company registration number (optional) If user selects “none” – How is your organisation classified? Names of trustees or committee members How long has your organisation been operating? Upload your organisation’s annual accounts from the last 3 years Upload your organisation’s annual accounts that you have available. Upload a current bank statement which is less than 2 months old Upload an annual budget for your organisation |
Eligibility check | N/A |
| 1.3 Applicant Information | ||
| Name of lead contact Lead contact job title Lead contact email address Lead contact telephone number Is the lead contact the same person as the authorised signatory? Authorised signatory full name Authorised signatory job title Authorised signatory email address Authorised signatory telephone number |
Eligibility check | N/A |
| 1.4 Joint applications | ||
| Is your application a joint bid in partnership with other organisations? Partner organisation details Tell us about your partnership and how you plan to work together |
Eligibility check | N/A |
| Section 2. Your skills and experience | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 Staff and volunteers | ||
| How many staff members are currently employed in your organisation? How many volunteers are actively involved in your organisation? What percentage of your employed staff work part-time? or part-time employees, what is their average full-time equivalency (FTE)? |
Eligibility check | |
| 2.2 Current service | ||
| Have you provided a night shelter or emergency accommodation on or after 1 April 2019? Is the night shelter or emergency accommodation communal? Is the night shelter or emergency accommodation single room accommodation? How many bed spaces did the night shelter or emergency accommodation provide from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023? Is the night shelter or emergency accommodation used for SWEP (severe weather emergency protocol)? Do you accept referrals from the local authority or other agencies for available bed spaces? How many nights did the night shelter or emergency accommodation open from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023? Do you currently provide day provision? When did you start providing day provision? Which day provision services are you currently providing? Do you currently provide any other services? Do you currently provide any other services? What other services are you currently providing? |
Score required 11% |
33 |
| 2.3 Targeted criteria | ||
| Do you currently provide specialist support? Who do you currently provide targeted specialist support to? Which other specialist support will your proposal provide? |
Score required 4% |
12 |
| Total for Section 2 | 15% | 45 |
| Section 3: Your Proposal | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 Proposal summary | ||
| Give a brief summary of your proposal, including what you hope to achieve Objective and activities |
Score required 13% |
39 |
| 3.2 Milestones | ||
| Proposal milestones | Eligibility check | |
| 3.2 Your local area need | ||
| Tell us why your proposal is needed in your area | Score required 6% |
18 |
| What is the name of the local authority of where your proposal will be based? Do you have the local authority’s support and endorsement for your proposal? Upload letter of endorsement from your local authority (optional) |
Eligibility check | |
| 3.4 Proposed services | ||
| Tell us how your proposal will transform your existing services Do you plan to use this funding to make any changes to the existing night shelter or emergency accommodation? How many single rooms will you provide with the funding? Do you plan to use this funding to make any changes to the existing day provision? Which additional day provision will your proposal provide? Which other additional day provision will your proposal provide? Will you provide any other additional services? Which other services will you use the funding to provide? |
Score required 5% |
15 |
| 3.5 Targeted criteria | ||
| Will your proposal provide additional specialist support? Who will your proposal provide targeted specialist support to? Who will your proposal provide specialist support to? |
Score required 7% |
21 |
| 3.6 Working in partnership | ||
| Describe your important local partners and how they will support your proposal | Score required 4% |
12 |
| 3.7 Proposal sustainability | ||
| How will this funding support the longer-term sustainability of your proposal beyond the funding period? | Score required 5% |
15 |
| Total for Section 3 | 40% | 120 |
| Section 4: Outputs and outcomes | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| How many people will the proposal support with the funding? (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) How many people will the proposal support with the funding? (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025) |
Score required 7.50% |
22.5 |
| How many people with restricted eligibility will the proposal support? (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) How many people with restricted eligibility will the proposal support? (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025) |
Score required 7.50% |
22.5 |
| Total for Section 4 | 15% | 45 |
| Section 5: Risk and deliverability | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| Risk to the proposal | Score required 15% |
24 |
| Total for section 5 | 15% | 45 |
| Section 6: Value for money | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| 6.1 Funding required | ||
| Which funding are you applying for? | Eligibility check | |
| How much revenue are you applying for?(1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) How much revenue are you applying for?(1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025) Revenue funding (items of expenditure to be added individually) How much capital are you applying for?(1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) How much capital are you applying for?(1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025) Capital funding (items of expenditure to be added individually) |
Score required 15% |
45 |
| 6.2 Building works | ||
| Will you use the funding to conduct building works? Number of new single rooms units (optional) Do you need planning approval for your proposal? Have you made an application for planning permission? What’s your planning application number? Have you received any pre-application planning advice? Give a brief summary of the advice you received Will you procure a construction contract for the building works? Will you use any professional advisors for the proposal? Details of the professional advisors Will you be hiring contractors to complete the building works? Do you know which contractors will be conducting the work? Which contractors will you use to carry out the work? Upload cost estimate Upload condition survey Upload building and contents insurance certificate Do you own the premises? Upload a copy of the land registry title Upload the landowner’s consent Upload a copy of the lease agreement Upload correspondence from your landlord to show that lease renewal discussions have started Upload heads of terms outlining new lease agreement Is the building listed? Upload building consent |
Eligibility check | |
| 6.3 Match funding | ||
| Will you use match funding for this proposal? Match funding (sources of match funding to be added individually) |
Eligibility check | |
| Total for Section 6 | 15% | 45 |
| Section 7: Declarations | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm you have a bank account set-up and associated with the organisation you are applying on behalf of Confirm you have a safeguarding, data protection and health and safety policy. Confirm that the information you’ve provided in this application is accurate to the best of your knowledge on the date of submission |
Eligibility check | N/A |
| Maximum total score available | 100% | 300 |
Section 8: Application support
If you have any questions, you can:
- Refer to our separate frequently asked questions section, which will be updated weekly until the closing date for applications.
- Contact Housing Justice or Homeless Link, who are working in partnership with DLUHC to support to applicants throughout this funding period. If your organisation is already a member of one of the two membership bodies, we recommend speaking to them in the first instance. Contact details can be found below:
Housing Justice: grants@housingjustice.org.uk
Homeless Link: fund@homelesslink.org.uk
- If your organisation is not a member of either Housing Justice or Homeless Link, please email us at transformationfund@levellingup.gov.uk and we will put you in touch with the most suitable organisation.
Section 9: Glossary of terms
To ensure a common understanding of terminology used in this prospectus, we have provided below an agreed set of definitions for sector-specific use. We understand that other organisations may use these terms in different ways, for the purposes of this grant programme this is how these terms will be used and understood.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Commissioned services | Describes services which are made possible under contract from a local authority. |
| Community-based services | Services supporting rough sleepers beyond night Shelters. Including drop-ins, day services, befriending, peer support, floating support, advice and advocacy, employment support and specific provision for people with barriers to accessing commissioned services. |
| Communal sleeping arrangements | A room where more than one person will be sleeping in the same space |
| Match-funding | Funding that is used to bolster the value of a bid from other sources such as other grants, philanthropic capital or charitable donations. |
| Modular housing | Prefabricated building with a lockable door, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation. |
| Night Shelter | A project provides emergency accommodation with rapid access and a low barrier to entry for people experiencing rough sleeping or at imminent risk of rough sleeping |
| Single room | Separate living accommodation. A room with a lockable door, four walls and a ceiling, secure window and appropriate ventilation. Access to cooking facilities and full bathroom facilities (single-use or shared) – cooking facilities are required unless this is explicitly indicated as unnecessary, for example in fully catered provision. |
| Transformation | A significant, sustainable and long-term change to the operating model of an existing rough sleeping service. This could include significant long-term changes to either buildings, staffing arrangements or to the approach. |
Section 10: FAQs
These FAQs will be updated weekly.
Q. Can I apply for funding to set up a new Night Shelter?
A. No, we will only fund organisations who have provided Night Shelter services previously. However, we will fund organisations that have previously provided Night Shelter services to develop non-accommodation-based offers. We will not fund communal Night Shelters where individuals are not given their own room. This is described in more detail in the glossary of terms in Section 9.
Q. Can I apply as an organisation that has supported rough sleepers but has not provided an accommodation service?
A. No, we will only fund organisations who have provided Night Shelter services previously.
Q. Can I apply for funding in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland?
A. No, this funding programme is only available in England.
Q. Can I apply for multi-year funding?
A. Yes, you can apply for funding up to two years within the 2023-25 period. Please make this clear in your application form. Funds will be sent to successful grantees on an annual basis so please ensure your cost schedule is accurate and representative of your funding need in each year. Note that this funding will expire at the end of March 2025, and you should detail plans regarding longer-term sustainability in your application.
Q. Can I apply for capital funding and revenue funding at the same time?
A. Yes, we will accept more than one bid from the same provider. We are seeking to support organisations who are planning to make significant transformative developments to their service. To that end, we will accept applications for both Capital and Revenue funding in the same funding round. Please ensure you make clear in your bid any instances of interdependencies between capital and revenue funding. Please note that this fund only provides capital funding for 2023/24. Revenue funding is available for both 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Q. If successful with a capital funding application, can we start capital works before we receive payment?
A. Once a successful application is confirmed you can start capital works before payment is received.
Q. Can I apply for funding as a commissioned service?
A. Yes, as long as you meet the other criteria, although your main source of income should not be through commissioned services.
Q. Can I apply for funding for a communal Night Shelter?
A. The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund the setting up or maintenance of any communal Night Shelters. The fund will, however, support the transformation of these services to provide single room accommodation for rough sleepers, including modular structures. Providers of communal Night Shelters may also apply for funding to develop non-accommodation based services, detailed in the Revenue section of this document.
Q. How rigid is the single-room accommodation criterion?
A. The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund the setting up or maintenance of communal night shelters.
The fund will, however, support the transformation of these services to provide single-room accommodation for people experiencing rough sleeping.
Providers of communal night shelters may also apply for non-accommodation-based funding. Communal sleeping is defined as more than one person sharing a room with another person.
Definition of sperate living accommodation:
- A room with a lockable door, four walls and a ceiling, secure window, and appropriate ventilation.
- Access to cooking facilities and full bathroom facilities (single-use or shared) – cooking facilities are required unless this is explicitly indicated as unnecessary, for example in fully catered provision.
Q. Can I apply for funding to purchase a property?
A. Yes, funding to support the purchase of a property to provide services for rough sleepers including accommodation is eligible under the Capital tranche of this fund. Please be aware that grantees will still be expected to complete their spend on time and so it may be beneficial to look to purchase properties without an onward chain or properties which your organisation currently rents. Please also note the £100,000 cap on bids for capital funding, and the expectation that organisations with an annual turnover of more than £1,000,000 seek to provide match funding for their bids.
Q. Can I apply for funding to rent short term accommodation (that is book hotel rooms) for rough sleepers?
A. We will not fund hotel rooms or B&B accommodation aside from in exceptional circumstances. For instance, a project may make a case for hotel or B&B accommodation as an interim solution as a component part of an organisation’s longer-term service transformation.
Q. I have commissioned services. Can I still apply?
A. This funding is for non-commissioned emergency accommodation providers, while there may be some elements of your services which receive commissioned funding (funding received from the local council with a contract to deliver a particular service on their behalf), most of your services should not be commissioned.
Q. My organisation has a federated structure, am I still eligible to apply?
A. The organisation applying must have its own constitution and accounts to be eligible to apply.
Q. What if my organisation is part of a larger organisation?
A. If you share accounts and a governance structure then the larger organisation must be the applicant and must meet the eligibility criteria and turnover limit.
Q. How rigid is the requirement that our organisations turnover is up to £2 million?
A. To apply for the Transformation Fund you should be a small to medium sized organisation with up to £2 million annual turnover.
Organisations with a higher annual turnover may apply in very specific circumstances, including being the only emergency provider over winter in a particular area or being in the margins of £2 million annual turnover.
If this is the case, please contact us and Homeless Link or Housing Justice directly for advice before applying.
Q. I received funding in a previous round of the fund, can I apply again for this round of funding?
A. If your organisation received revenue funding for 3 years:
It is less likely your organisation would receive further revenue funding. In exceptional cases where need or issues of capacity in local provision has significantly increased, these bids may be considered. However, a round 2 application would need to be distinct from your round 1 application (for example, a new role within the organisation). Organisations that have received revenue funding in round 1 could apply for capital funding for a transformation project.
If your organisation received revenue funding for 1 or 2 years:
Organisations who have received funding in years 1 or 2 may apply for further funding, but the case for transformation would need to be strongly made and clearly demonstrate longevity and sustainability without further funding. Organisations who have been funded for revenue in years 1 or 2 may apply for capital funding.
If your organisation received capital funding for year 1:
While organisations who have previously received capital funding may apply again, the extent to which transformation of the service has already occurred because of the round 1 funding will be considered.
If your organisation received only capital incubator funding for year 1:
You may apply for capital or revenue funding. The results of your capital incubator funding may be considered when assessing your application.
Q. I applied for a previous round of funding but was not successful, can I apply again for this round?
A. If your organisation applied in round 1 but was unsuccessful, you may apply for round 2, but your application should take in to account any previous feedback and you may wish to seek advice from Housing Justice, Homeless Link and/or DLUHC.
Q. Can I apply as an individual?
A. No. We do not fund individuals, we can only fund organisations with one of the structures listed in the Criteria for Applicants section of this document.
Q. What if we want to apply for a specific project that is one component of a larger organisation that may not always work with rough sleepers?
A. We do expect the organisation’s primary beneficiaries to be people experiencing homelessness. We understand organisations may work with other people too, but to be eligible for this grant, people experiencing homelessness must represent more than 50% of your organisation’s beneficiaries.
Q. Does it matter what level of reserves we have?
A. Organisations with any level of reserves can apply to this Fund. If we receive a very high number of applications, we will look to forecasted cash reserves to prioritise funding, so please provide this information in your application. Provision of match funding through reserves will be viewed favourably in value for money terms.
Q. Do I need a letter of support from my local authority?
A. Yes. Local authorities are expected to play a key role in planning provision for people sleeping rough, so we want to know that you are working with local authorities and partners towards delivery of agreed strategic plans.
We require all applicants to submit the relevant local authority’s endorsement, by letter or email, to ensure that bids complement (and do not duplicate) the council’s work. Ideally supporting letters should come from Officers responsible for planning winter provision. Supporting letters from elected members/councillors will not be considered and so should not be submitted. If it has not been possible for you to obtain support, you will need to explain why.
Q. Do we need a new letter of support from our local authority for this year, or can we reuse the letter from our successful application last year?
A. If you applied previously, you will need a new letter of support from relevant local authority this year.
Q. Will night shelters need to supply a service level agreement with their local authority?
A. We do not require a service level agreement with your local authority.
We require all applicants to submit the relevant local authority’s endorsement, by letter or email, to ensure that bids complement (and do not duplicate) the council’s work. Ideally supporting letters should come from officers responsible for planning winter provision. Supporting letters from elected members/councillors will not be considered and so should not be submitted. If it has not been possible for you to obtain support, you will need to explain why.
Q. Do night shelters need to be taking only service users referred by the local authority?
A. Night shelters can provide for service users who have not been referred by the local authority.
Q. Will successful applicants receive any support if successful?
A. Yes, Homeless Link and Housing Justice will support applicants through establishing Communities of Practice. These groups will be peer support driven and will provide grantees with a forum to discuss ideas, concerns and ask questions. Homeless Link and Housing Justice will also assign successful applicants with an individual grant manager.
Q. Will the fund be open for new applications in 2024?
A. There are no current plans for a further round of funding in 2024.
Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, are we eligible to alter our budget and plans in the second year?
A. We require your application to clearly set out your plans and provide details of future years’ funding - this can be inclusive of predicted inflationary costs and/or foreseen changes to the delivery of your services.
We will work with Housing Justice, Homeless Link and grantees to finalise high level workplans as part of the Grant Funding Agreement process. These will be subject to review, providing an opportunity to inform DLUHC of any proposed changes to grant spend during the grant agreement period.
Any proposed changes to grant spending would be considered on merit, factoring in organisational budgets and the needs of the local area.
Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, will further information be requested from our organisation, and if so, what information will that be and at what point?
A. Depending on your organisation’s membership affiliation, you will be expected to regularly update Homeless Link or Housing Justice on your progress. If you are not affiliated with either Homeless Link or Housing Justice, you will be assigned a grant manager from one of these organisations.
This information will be fed back to DLUHC via a RAG Rating system as part of on-going monitoring of the programme. DLUHC may choose to more closely monitor your project to manage risks to delivery.
You will be expected to provide monitoring information to DLUHC on a twice-yearly basis. This information will be proportionate and allow DLUHC to have on-going management information that informs the overall performance of the Night Shelter Transformation Fund.
Q. If we are awarded a multi-year grant, will payment be dependent on progress?
A. While DLUHC is not providing grants on a payment-by-results basis, it does reserve the right to withhold payments or exit any Grant Funding Agreement on the basis of grantees’ performance in delivering against the terms and conditions of the Grant Funding Agreement.
Q. Where do we send applications?
A. Applications and supporting information will need to be submitted online.
Q. What constitutes match funding?
A. Match funding is commonly understood in two ways - as “actual” and “in-kind”. “Actual” match funding can include match funding from reserves and other external funding sources. “In-kind” funding includes non-cash funding such as staff salaries and/or volunteer hours.
As a working principle, “actual” match funding bids will be viewed more favourably in relation to value for money than “in-kind” match funding.
Q. Can we fund any project running communal provision?
A. Organisations providing communal night shelters are encouraged to apply for the Night Shelter Transformation Fund, though DLUHC will not specifically fund the provision of communal night shelter services.
DLUHC will, for example, fund communal night shelters to provide non-accommodation-based support, or single-room accommodation which is to be provide in addition to communal accommodation.
Q. Can we apply for funding in order to provide SWEP accommodation?
A. Night shelter organisations are able to apply for funding for single-room accommodation, which could then be used as SWEP provision in a local area.
The Night Shelter Transformation Fund will not fund communal provision, and applicants will be required to submit a letter of support from their local authority in applying for the fund.
Q. Will the Night Shelter Transformation Fund preventative services?
A. Yes, we encourage applications for funding for non-accommodation based provision, including but not limited to preventative services.
Q. Can a night shelter organisation apply on behalf of an organisation that is not a night shelter, and sub-contract that organisation to provide services with Night Shelter Transformation Fund monies?
A. Bids of this nature are not eligible, as funding can only be provided to organisations that have provided a night shelter in 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and/or 2022/23
Q. Can night shelter organisations submit partnership bids?
A. Yes, partnerships of night shelter organisations are able to apply for this fund. Please contact Homeless Link and/or Housing Justice in the first instance to discuss any partnership bids.
Q. Can we request capital funding to be spent over multiple financial years?
A. Capital funding is only available for 2023/24.
Q. What can my organisation expect to happen if we are successful in bidding for the Night Shelter Transformation Fund?
A. You will be informed if your bid has been successful and the amount of funding you have been awarded. You will be sent a Grant Funding Agreement to sign. This will set out the conditions of accepting the grant and confirms that DLUHC has entered into an agreement with the organisation.
You will also be asked to return a form to register as a DLUHC supplier alongside a Grant Claim Form to claim the grant. Once these have been returned your payment will be processed.