Urban Tree Challenge Fund
Find out what’s involved and how to apply for funding to support the planting and establishment of standard trees in urban and peri-urban areas in England.
Applies to England
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) is now closed to new applications.
We usually offer an agreement after 3 to 5 months of receiving a completed application.
Tree planting can be scheduled over 2 planting years: 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026. Most of the tree planting (80%) needs to be scheduled in 2024 to 2025 with up to 20% in 2025 to 2026.
To apply for UTCF, you will need to register with the Rural Payments service to get a Single Business Identifier (SBI).
The fund provides 80% of published standard costs for the planting and establishment of trees in urban and peri-urban areas. In 2023, payments for trial pits were introduced to check for the presence of services. The remaining costs of planting and establishing trees supported under the UTCF must be met through match funding, either in the form of money or labour. There is a minimum application value of £10,000.
The UTCF is a competitive fund, and your application will be scored. The scoring threshold is 100 points, your application must be equal to or above this score to be accepted.
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund is now closed to new applications.
Find out if you’re eligible
Who can apply?
Anyone can apply for the fund if you either have full management control over the land, or signed consent from those with management control over the land for the duration of the Agreement. Agents are also able to apply on behalf of an organisation or landowner. Any individual or organisation can submit one application to UTCF in a single financial year. Multiple applications from the same applicant will be ranked and scored independently from one another.
Where the applicant does not have full management control over the land in the application (for example, the applicant is a tenant, trustee, joint owner or representative of a group of adjoining owners), we will require written permission from all parties with management control over the land before an agreement can be issued. This should come in the form of countersignatures on the application form.
Land submitted in a UTCF application does not need to be registered on the Rural Land Register, but applicants will need to register with the Rural Payments service to obtain an SBI and a Customer Reference Number (CRN). This must be provided on the application form.
Eligible land
Land included in a UTCF application must fall within an urban area. An urban area, as defined for the purposes of the UTCF, is a built-up area (based on Office of National Statistics data) with a population of at least 2,000 people, and a buffer of 1km to account for peri-urban planting. This can be identified on the Forestry Commission map browser using the ‘UTCF Trees Close to People’ layer located in the Targeting and Scoring list of map layers. You must confirm in your application that your land falls entirely within this map layer.
Biosecure Procurement
The Biosecure Procurement Requirement Pilot has been extended to include UTCF to address risks to our biosecurity.
From 1 July 2023 onward applicants for UTCF must commit to sourcing their trees from suppliers who are either certified under the Plant Healthy Certification Scheme (or have applied to become certified) or who have passed a Ready to Plant assessment provided by Fera Science Ltd. Further information is available in the grant manual, failure to adhere to the procurement requirement may result in a reduction in the payment of your claim.
This requirement helps to combat the threats posed by pests and diseases, as well as strengthening our biosecurity and serving our long-term vision for our trees and woodlands. Find information and support on how to comply in our guide: Biosecure Procurement Requirement Pilot for Plants and Trees.
If your planting plans include oak trees with a stem girth of at least 8cm, at 1.2m above the root collar, your supplier will need to comply with the Oak Processionary Moth management policy changes guide.
How to apply
UTCF is now closed to new applications.
To apply for the UTCF please follow these steps:
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Read the UTCF grant manual and grant funding agreement (terms and conditions) on the Urban Tree Challenge Fund application form round 6 page to find out if you’re eligible.
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You must register with Rural Payments to get a Single Business Identifier (SBI) and Customer Reference Number (CRN) before you can apply.
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Complete the application form and application annex and map(s) (shapefiles or PDF), send these to utcf@forestrycommission.gov.uk.
You must not undertake any planting or ground preparation detailed in your application until you have a signed agreement with the Forestry Commission in place.
Further information
Maps
You must submit a map with your application, identifying the areas proposed for planting. If there is more than one geographical area, a map for each area is required.
Maps should be produced at a scale of 1:1,250.
For further information about mapping standards please refer to section 6 of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund: grant manual.
Terms and conditions
Read the Urban Tree Challenge Fund Grant Funding Agreement (Terms and Conditions) available on the UTCF form page.
How it works
What is funded
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund provides 80% funding of standard costs (see Standard costs table) for planting large trees and their establishment costs for 3 years following planting.
The funding supports the cost of buying a tree, planting in grass or hard surfaces, the cost of basic protection and the labour required to plant it.
In 2023, payments for trial pits were introduced to check for the presence of services. The number of trial pits that will receive funding is capped at 10% of the total number of trees in the application. For example, if you are applying to plant 100 trees you could also apply for 10 trial pits. Where trial pits are required these need to be listed in the application annex found on the UTCF application form page.
Establishment payments support the cost of weeding, watering and checking trees during multiple visits over a 3-year period.
The funding rate shown in the standard costs table is the amount that will be paid per item, we will not make payments above these values, the full description of each item and information about the work that is required is set out in the grant manual.
Standard costs table
| Description | Funding rate |
|---|---|
| Supply and plant a tree in grass | £216.36 |
| Supply and plant a tree in hard surface | £271.58 |
| Trial pit hard surface | £279.17 |
| Trial pit grass | £156.78 |
| Establishment (watering, weeding) | £151.20 per tree per year for 3 years |
Protection measures, including the type of guard used, must be appropriate for the planting location, but anything above those listed in the standard costs table will have to be funded separately as part of the match funding. You will be required to detail this information in the application form annex.
Payments will be made in a minimum of 4 instalments. The first instalment will cover the supply and planting of the trees. This will be followed by 3 further annual claims for the remaining establishment costs.
Match funding
Fund recipients must provide 20% match funding in the form of money or labour. The funding rate has been calculated based on paying an 80% contribution towards the standard cost of a given item and the cost of establishment, such as weeding and watering. Sources of grant funding that are part of the Nature for Climate Fund, for example the Local Authority Treescapes Fund and Trees Call to Action Fund cannot be used as match funding.
Please refer to the Urban Tree Challenge Fund terms and conditions, for further details on what can be included in match funding.
Advice and best practice
We will not provide technical advice for your application. It is up to you to source expert advice from a competent person to ensure your planting proposal meets best practice.
We suggest you follow the best practice advice found in the Urban Tree Manual.
We consider experts to include persons with membership to a professional body. Examples of this can include, but are not limited to:
- Institute of Chartered Foresters
- Arboricultural Association
- London Tree Officer’s Association
- Municipal Tree Officers Association
- National Association of Tree Officers
Contact us
Get help by emailing UTCF@forestrycommission.gov.uk or phone the Operational Delivery team on 0300 067 4177.
Make an appeal
Find out how to make a complaint or appeal against a grant decision.
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 August 2024 + show all updates
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Added a sentence in the Biosecure Procurement section about oak trees with a girth of 8cm.
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Added the Operational Delivery Team phone number to the Contact Us section.
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Updated to reflect that UTCF is closed to new applications.
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Updated page to reflect that the planting window now allows a small amount of tree planting to be scheduled in 2025/26. Whilst most tree planting (80%) must be scheduled in 2024/25, up to 20% can be allocated to 2025/26.
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Simplified the standard costs table and added an updated version of UTCF grant manual.
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Updated to include biosecure procurement information.
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Addition of biosecure procurement requirement information.
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Urban Tree Challenge Fund round 5 is now open.
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Edited as the application window for the Urban Tree Challenge Fund has now closed.
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Addition of a case study.
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Addition of frequently asked questions guide.
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Page updated to reflect the application window re-opening for the next round of funding.
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General page updates.
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Page updated to reflect that the application window for the fund has now closed.
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Added: terms and conditions for round 3 of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund
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Updated to include information on 2021 application round.
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The application window for Round 2 of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund has been extended to 30 June 2020.
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This page has been updated to say that the application window for Round 2 is open from 30 March 2020 to 31 May 2020.
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This page has been updated with information about Round 2 of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
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Updates to the scheme arrangements for round 2.
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Update to reflect the end of year one applications.
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Grant details updated following the closure of the year 1 application window on 31 August 2019.
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Update on application date extension and lowering minimum value for block bids.
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This page has been updated with information on species selection (under the 'Species selection and spacing matrix' heading) and the minimum application value (under the 'Application and planting requirements' heading).
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Update to include scheme forms, rules and eligibility.
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First published.