Guidance

Pride in Place Programme: funding profiles and timelines

Published 3 December 2025

Funding profile and timeline

The funding profile for phases one and two of the Pride in Place Programme is set out below.

Each community will receive funding and support totalling up to £20 million. For phase 1 areas (those confirmed in March 2025), the profile will remain the same as has been previously published. For phase 2 areas full funding profiles are below.

Flexible funding is a guiding principle for the Pride in Place Programme, across both phase 1 and 2. This guidance sets out further detail relating to funding profiles and timelines.

Neighbourhood Boards, made up of local people, will be the decision makers for funding decisions, supported by the respective local MP and local authority. Together they should ensure that:

• the appropriate capacity and capability is in place throughout the programme period to ensure that funds are distributed effectively in the local area.
• residents, businesses, and grassroots organisations are actively involved in programme design and decision-making to ensure delivery reflects the priorities of local people and helps build capacity within the community.
• monitoring and evaluation is undertaken according to published guidance.

We encourage Boards to consider ways in which Pride in Place funding can be used alongside other government and non-government funding. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will also be working to ensure the funding, and programme more broadly, is used as a catalyst to bring in extra funding and activity – for example through other government departments, philanthropy, social investment and socially minded businesses.  

For the purposes of the planning and to allow for periodic review, the programme will be divided into 3 investment periods:

• Period 1: the 2026 to 2027 financial year to the 2029 to 2030 financial year (4 years)
• Period 2: the 2030 to 2031 financial year to the 2032 to 2033 financial year (3 years)
• Period 3: the 2033 to 2034 financial year to the 2035 to 2036 financial year (3 years)

Capacity funding

Phase 1 places received a “year zero” capacity payment, ahead of the delivery funding to support community engagement and local capacity building. Phase 2 places will also receive an early capacity payment in the financial year 25/26 in order to support Board establishment and early, high quality community engagement. Since phase 2 places have less time to prepare, relative to phase 1 places, we expect that at least some of the funding in Year 1 of the programme is used to support community engagement also. Engagement should be undertaken as a priority to ensure that Board decisions are well informed and grounded in the community - this is covered in more detail in the community engagement section of the prospectus.

Ahead of submitting the Pride in Place Plan, local authorities and the MP should consult Neighbourhood Boards on their preference for using this money, which could include:

• establishing and running the Neighbourhood Board, including any process to establish the Board as a charity, community interest company, or other bottom-up organisational model, to sustain long-term investment
• performing community engagement, which could include passporting money directly to voluntary and community sector groups to assist with engagement. Additional guidance can be found in the prospectus
• developing Pride in Place Plans
• securing advice and expertise for Neighbourhood Boards for the technical elements of plan development and delivery, noting that support is available from MHCLG to assist with curbing public sector use of consultants
• ensuring capital and infrastructure interventions can hit the ground running, for example, by kickstarting the planning application process, securing architectural plans and obtaining legal advice, or any other activity that local authorities and Boards consider will progress their plans
• delivering “quick wins” which the community have requested through the engagement, for example – street cleaning or infrastructure to tackle anti-social behaviour
• the local authority may choose to provide modest remuneration to the Neighbourhood Chair for their time

After the initial capacity payment, areas are expected to use their revenue allocation to fund these activities alongside other delivery priorities. MHCLG will not specify what proportion should be spent on each.

Funding flexibilities

This Programme affords significant financial flexibilities to Neighbourhood Boards to support with delivery. Flexibilities are available for both capacity and programme delivery funding (where distinct) and apply to phase 1 and phase 2 of the programme.

After  the initial ‘capacity payment’ in early 2026, Boards can spend their revenue funding allocation flexibly across the full lifespan of the programme. However, in the early years of the programme, this should primarily be used to build capacity locally and undertake the extensive engagement and consultation required with their community.

Boards will be able to forecast their intention to spend delivery funding in later years of the programme. This forecast should be realistic and deliverable – aligned to their investment plan and accounting for local needs and priorities, as well as the deliverability of proposed interventions and risks.

Funding cannot be brought forward into earlier years of the programme, although places can borrow against what is a guaranteed revenue stream.

Where a Board forecasts that they will not spend their full allocation of delivery funding in the first investment period, that money can be rolled into subsequent investment periods. Annual payments of delivery funding will not be adjusted where a Board’s forecast indicates that funding will not be spent in year, or in a given investment period, provided they forecast to spend the full value of the overall 10-year allocation.

To ensure the Programme retains momentum throughout delivery and demonstrates tangible change for communities as soon as possible, Boards must have consideration for the following parameters:

• within each investment period, the Board must forecast to spend at least 25% of the cumulative allocation for that investment period
• by the end of Year 7 (financial year 2032 to 2033 and the end of the second investment period), the Board must have spent at least 50% of the cumulative total allocation

Where a place forecasts to spend less than these percentages, they may be asked to submit additional information to MHCLG to evidence that their forecast is credible and deliverable.

At the end of each financial year places will be asked to submit an expenditure profile for that year, alongside a refreshed forecast. These reports will be used to monitor progress of the programme and is not subject to approval from MHCLG – however, payment for the subsequent financial year cannot be made until an expenditure profile and refreshed forecast is submitted.

Additional detail on governance and boundary guidance should be considered when make funding decisions.

Phase 1 Funding profile and timeline

Each community will receive funding and support totalling up to £20 million. The funding will be split 75% capital and 25% revenue, and will be paid to respective local authorities in line with the following profile:

Grant type (£000s)	2025 to 2026	2026 to 2027	2027 to 2028	2028 to 2029	2029 to 2030	2030 to 2031	2031 to 2032	2032 to 2033	2033 to 2034	2034 to 2035	2035 to 2036	Total
Total revenue funding	200	382	256	432	432	432	432	437	450	450	450	4,599
Revenue funding (capacity)	200	150	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	600
Revenue funding (grants)	-	232	256	432	432	432	432	437	450	450	450	3,999
Capital funding (grants)	-	360	1,736	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	1,605	14,936
Total		742	1,991	2,037	2,037	2,037	2,037	2,042	2,055	2,055	2,055	19,536

Note:

• For revenue capacity, £250,000 was provided over the 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 financial years.
• Values are rounded.

Delivery funding will be released from the beginning of the 2026 to 2027 financial year, affording communities the time and space to embed the necessary governance structures, grow their presence within the local area and build local capacity and capability to be ready to hit the ground running. To facilitate this, an additional £200,000 of capacity funding was released in the 2025 to 2026 financial year to all recipient local authorities. This builds on the previous £250,000 grants provided to local authorities to establish Neighbourhood Boards and begin community engagement as part of the previous administration’s Long-Term Plan for Towns programme. 

Phase 1 timeline

February to April 2025:

• Neighbourhood Boards and local authorities received a tailored data pack detailing metrics across the 3 strategic objectives, and polling on local sentiment around investment priorities for their area
• Neighbourhood Boards confirmed finalised membership and any proposals to alter the ‘default’ area boundary for spending in their community to MHCLG by Tuesday 22 April 2025

Spring 2025:

• MHCLG reviewed membership and boundary proposals and confirmed to places whether acceptable
• Further guidance on fund delivery, tailored policy toolkits for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Pride in Place Plan submission, assessment and approval was published
• MHCLG issued 2025 to 2026 capacity funding payment to all places

Spring 2025 to winter 2025:

• Neighbourhood Boards submitted their Pride in Place Plan to MHCLG for assessment and approval by 28 November 2025.

From April 2026:

• First programme delivery funding payment to be made to lead local authorities, commencement of delivery phase
• MHCLG issues 2026 to 2027 capacity funding payment to all places

Phase 2 Funding profile and timeline

Each community will receive funding and support totalling up to £20 million. The funding will be split 63% capital and 37% revenue, and will be paid to respective local authorities in line with the following profile:

Grant type (£ms)	25/26	26/27	27/28	28/29	29/30	30/31	31/32	32/33	33/34	34/35	35/36	Total
Capital funding	0	0.12	0.67	1.46	1.46	1.46	1.46	1.46	1.46	1.46	1.46	12.43
Revenue funding	0.15	0.27	0.69	0.69	0.77	0.77	0.77	0.77	0.77	0.77	0.77	7.17
Total	0.15	0.39	1.36	2.15	2.23	2.23	2.23	2.23	2.23	2.23	2.23	19.6

• Values are rounded.
• Funding post financial year 2028/29 will be reviewed at the next Spending Review.
• *Revenue funding will be paid out across two tranches in Year 1 (2026/27) of the programme – 50% will be made at the start of the financial year, and the remaining 50% on approval of the Pride in Place Plan.

Phase 2 timeline

Early 2026

• First payment of £150,000 to be made to each area, to support local community engagement and the establishment of Neighbourhood Boards.

April 2026:

• First programme delivery funding payment to be made to lead local authorities which marks the commencement of the delivery phase. The revenue portion will be split into two – the first half of this will be made at the start of the financial year 2026/27 and the second half will be released on approval of the Pride in Place Plan. This is to ensure that Boards conduct sufficient community engagement to inform their Pride in Place Plan, which will be reviewed by MHCLG. The 26/27 capital portion will be paid in full at the start of the financial year.
• Where Boards and Chairs are provisionally established, they should be consulted on this spend to ensure it is supporting community engagement, building local capacity and being targeted at projects that engagement has already highlighted as a local priority. Regardless of the status of the Chair or Boards, local authorities should ensure that community engagement, local capacity building and community backed delivery are the focus of any spend, whilst remaining mindful of potential costs over the remainder of 2026/27 relating to Pride in Place Plan development and associated delivery.
• This list of indicative interventions will not require a specific business case.

July 2026:

• Neighbourhood Boards to confirm finalised membership and any proposals to alter the ‘default’ area boundary to MHCLG by 17 July 2026.

Autumn 2026

• MHCLG to review membership and boundary proposals and confirm to places whether acceptable.

November 2026

• Neighbourhood Boards submit their Pride in Place Plan to MHCLG for assessment and approval by 28 November 2026.