Notify Homes England of a historical grant recovery or constitutional change
How to notify Homes England of events that could lead to grant recovery or changes that may affect the legal ownership of grant-funded homes.
Applies to England
From 6 April 2017, the Registered Provider and Unregistered Bodies Recovery of Grant Determinations (GRD) 2017 made provision for a grant notifications procedure, which replaced the previous regulatory consents regime. All providers who have a legal interest in grant-funded homes or land outside Greater London must follow this.
All Social Housing Capital Grant given in the past vests in the property or land it was provided for in perpetuity. This means that it is always recoverable when a relevant event occurs. It must not be assumed that grant depreciates in value or has served its purpose.
Where a relevant event, constitutional change or transfer of stock is due to occur, Homes England will need to confirm the grant amount and method of recovery.
For grant-funded homes or land within Greater London, read the Greater London Authority’s Affordable Housing Capital Funding Guide.
What you need to notify us of
You must notify us of any relevant events that will impact your grant-funded property. This includes, but is not limited to:
- disposal
- demolition
- cessation of use
- change of use
- de-registration
- change of company status
You must also notify us:
- of any constitutional changes that may affect the legal ownership of your grant-funded homes
- if a grant-funded property transfers from one registered provider to another
Example
Examples of a constitutional change are:
- becoming or ceasing to be a subsidiary or associate of another body
- amalgamations, transfer of engagements, mergers or de-mergers
- change in ownership, company structure or management - for example: change of control
Consult the Recovery Determination 2017 and the Capital Funding Guide
The Recovery Determination 2017 sets out all the events that lead to grant recovery from:
For more guidance on grant recovery, read the Capital Funding Guide chapters:
If you have registered with the Regulator for Social Housing after receiving grant funding, we will base grant recovery on the grant agreement or recovery determination applicable at the time the funding was given.
When you need to notify us
This will depend on what you’re notifying us about and when it will happen.
Relevant events
You must notify us of some relevant events, such as disposals, at least 14 working days in advance of when they will happen. You must notify us of other relevant events immediately, such as failure to use a capital grant for the purpose for which it was paid.
The Capital Funding Guide sets out which events you must notify us of and when.
Constitutional changes
You must notify us as early as possible when considering future constitutional changes that may affect the legal ownership of your grant-funded homes. This will allow us time to:
- review whether the changes will affect the legal route to recovery of the grant
- ensure any necessary legal forms are in place
- recover the grant before the changes take place, if needed
Keeping a record of all grant-funded assets
All registered and unregistered providers must keep accurate and up-to-date records of all grant-funded assets, including any previous recovery events. You must make sure this information is available when there is a change to a grant-funded property.
Keeping records is a requirement of the regulator’s governance and financial viability standard, which states that regulated providers must maintain a thorough, accurate and up-to-date record of their assets and liabilities.
If you fail to demonstrate accurate records, we will refer you to the regulator as this may indicate a breach of Regulatory Standards.
If you do not notify us or notify us late
You will be charged interest for the delayed notification and systemic lack of compliance. If the delay continues, we will do one of the following:
- remove the right to operate a Recycled Capital Grant Fund
- withdraw your future Investment Partner Qualification (IPQ)
- refer you to the Regulator of Social Housing
How to notify us
There are separate forms depending on what you are notifying us about. For a:
- relevant event, use the historical grant notification form
- constitutional change, use the notification of a constitutional change form
- stock transfer, use the registered provider transfer form
If you are notifying us about a stock transfer
Registered providers may transfer their grant-funded properties to another registered provider with our consent. If we do not give consent, we will consider the transfer to be a disposal and the grant will become due for recovery.
Complete a registered provider transfer form to notify us about a transfer and get our consent.
For-profit and unregistered providers
For-profit and unregistered providers will also need to submit details of uplift calculations and include additional documentation such as the valuation and a breakdown of how grant has been apportioned between units. This includes for all interim staircasing sales.
Read our uplift calculations guidance to understand how to calculate the increase in market value (uplift) when there is a relevant event, or contact the Historical Grants team.
After you have notified us
We will:
- acknowledge receipt of the notification form by email and review the information you have provided
- search our grant records for the property so we can confirm the level of grant due for recovery
After we have completed the searches, we will confirm the amount of grant to be recovered and recovery method (for example, repayment or recycling) in a confirmation email.
If you want to repay the grant
You should indicate on your notification form if you want to repay the grant. We will then raise an invoice and send it to you.
If you want to recycle the grant
You must notify us if you intend to credit funds to your Recycled Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
We will:
- check that you’re a registered provider and operate an RCGF
- confirm if you can credit the grant to the fund
You can only make an entry in the annual RCGF return once you’ve received confirmation from us of the amount of grant to be recycled. If you submit an annual return with an event you haven’t notified us of, we will un-submit the return and query the balances.
If you operate an RCGF, you must:
- use any funds credited to the RCGF within 3 years on priority or permitted uses
- calculate and credit notional interest to the fund
- submit an annual return to us by 30 June every year
- meet the requirements in the Capital Funding Guide
For more about priority and permitted uses of RCGF money, read the Capital Funding Guide, chapter 7.
If you have questions about the RCGF, email: rcgf@homesengland.gov.uk.
If you have questions
Contact the Historical Grants team if you have questions about the process.
Updates to this page
Last updated 30 June 2023 + show all updates
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Updated information about notifying us about a stock transfer, including a link to a registered provider transfer form. Also added a link to guidance about calculating uplift.
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First published.