Guidance

Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund - prospectus

This prospectus outlines the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund, eligibility, and how applications will be assessed.

• From: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Published: 17 February 2026

Grant summary

Purpose

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is committed to ensuring everyone has the conditions they need to thrive regardless of their background or the circumstances in their life. At the heart of this ambition is the belief that an affordable, secure and stable home should be available to everyone.  

This government is focused on addressing the root causes of homelessness and ensuring people get the right support at the right time. Achieving this requires the energy, reach, and innovation of the voluntary, community, and faith sector (VCFS). These organisations bring deep local knowledge, trusted relationships, and a unique ability to engage people.

The Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund (EHCF) represents an unprecedented investment of £37 million in the VCFS. This fund puts communities at the heart of our national effort, enabling the sector to strengthen community-based support, transform day services, help individuals live independently and prevent homelessness and rough sleeping.

Type of grant

Competed

Who can apply

VCFS organisations in England with a maximum annual income of £5 million that have been delivering support for at least 3 years to individuals at risk of, or currently experiencing, homelessness and rough sleeping.

For further information, please see the eligibility criteria below.

Funding available

Up to £37 million in revenue and capital funding distributed over three years. Applicants may apply for revenue funding, capital funding, or both, but applications for both types of funding must be made within a single application. For further information on the eligible annual grant size, please see the Grants Available section below.

MHCLG reserves the right to not fully allocate the budget through this competition, depending on the quality and balance of bids. MHCLG reserves the right to bring forward a second round of bidding.

Important dates

Applications open: Midday Monday 23 February 2026

Deadline for applications: Midday Monday 31 March 2026

Assessments: April 2026

Moderation: May 2026

Notifying outcomes of grant competition: June 2026

Grant Funding Agreements issued: June 2026

First grant payments issued: July/August 2026

Please note that funding for Year 1 will not be released until July or August 2026 pending submission of a Grant Claim Form. Any funding awarded for Years 2 and 3 will be made available from May 2027 and May 2028, respectively.

Apply for funding

Applications will open for this fund at midday on 23  February 2026. 

Contact us

If you have any questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us at ehcf@communities.gov.uk.

Introduction

The Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund (EHCF) is a new three-year fund running from 2026 to 2029. It forms an important part of delivering the National Plan to End Homelessness, which sets out our ambition for VCFS organisations to work alongside statutory services to prevent and end homelessness. Tackling homelessness must be a shared responsibility, with all relevant public services, including councils and VCFS partners, collaborating to prevent homelessness.

Through targeted investment of £37 million, the EHCF will support VCFS organisations to expand community-based support, strengthen and transform existing day support offers, help individuals to live independently and prevent them from returning to rough sleeping. This includes supporting those who have experienced the longest periods on the streets, who rely on trusted relationships and flexible provision to move forward. By reshaping local responses, building stronger pathways into accommodation, and supporting sustained recovery, the fund will play a key role in meeting the government’s commitment to halving long-term rough sleeping by the end of this Parliament.

This fund broadens the scope of investment in community-based homelessness services that do not receive the majority of their funding through traditional commissioning, targeting day centres and night shelters offering day provision across England. These services provide vital practical help and trusted relationships and are often the first point of contact for people facing complex challenges or who are the hardest to engage.

MHCLG recognises that sustainable change requires system-wide transformation. Councils, public services, and VCFS partners must work together to deliver person-centred, trauma-informed support and create local systems that prevent homelessness and promote long-term recovery. This fund is designed to support that shift, enabling organisations to transform provision, strengthen partnership working, and improve outcomes for people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.

We encourage applicants to consider how their proposals complement existing local authority support offers, embed person-centered approaches, and help people move away from homelessness for good.

This prospectus sets out eligibility, priorities, and guidance for organisations seeking funding to enhance or transform their services.

Grant objectives

We are seeking proposals to:

1. Increase community-based support to prevent and reduce the number of people experiencing rough sleeping
2. Enhance or transform existing day support offers through staff, physical infrastructure, service development and partnership working
3. Support individuals to live independently and prevent them returning to rough sleeping

We particularly welcome applications across any objectives that deliver tailored support to locally identified groups facing barriers to engagement, and that complement existing local authority provision.

What we are looking for:

Objective 1: Community-based support – This objective seeks to improve the quality, capacity, or reach of sector organisations to develop long-term solutions to prevent and reduce rough sleeping.

We are particularly interested in initiatives that:

• increase casework support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness
• strengthen community-led networks and referral pathways to prevent people entering or returning to rough sleeping
• facilitate and improve volunteer-based offers of support
• offer support to prevent people entering crisis
• provide single unit accommodation to fulfil a defined local need
• are from night shelters seeking to transform into single-room accommodation, but have not previously received capital funding from the Night Shelter Transformation Fund (NSTF)

Objective 2: Day services – This objective seeks to improve the quality, capacity, or reach of day services for people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping.

We welcome projects that:

• improve the physical infrastructure of day centres, drop-ins and places people at risk of or, experiencing or recovering from homelessness use
• support co-location of support services, joint working, and the development of new offers
• invest in staff development, trauma-informed approaches and service innovation
• specific programmes for people experiencing long-term rough sleeping

Objective 3: Recovery – This objective seeks to improve support for a person once they have moved in to settled accommodation, using the local community to develop a support network.

We are looking for proposals that:

• provide long-term support to sustain tenancies, develop skills, or find and sustain employment
• deliver mentoring and befriending style relational support and seek to develop resilience, create social networks and foster a sense of belonging and connection
• peer support programmes and activities for people once supported from rough sleeping and into accommodation

Eligibility criteria

To apply for this grant, your organisation must be a voluntary, community or faith sector (VCFS) organisation, operating in England, and established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes. Eligible organisations include:

• Charitable companies limited by guarantee registered with Companies House and with The Charity Commission or an Exempt Charity
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) registered with The Charity Commission
• Community Interest Companies (CIC) registered with Companies House
• Community Benefit Societies (CBS) or Co-operative societies registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Parochial Church Councils (PCC)

Those who are not eligible to apply include:

• individuals or sole traders
• profit-distributing organisations
• companies limited by shares, unless a community interest company
• unincorporated groups and organisations
• statutory bodies or public sector organisations (e.g. local authority bodies)
• organisations primarily engaged in political activity
• regulated education sector organisations (e.g. schools, further and higher education institutions, academy trusts, universities)

In addition to above, to apply for this grant your organisation must:

• demonstrate an income of under £5 million in your last financial year
• demonstrate that the grant aligns with the organisation’s core purpose, complements the wider homelessness system in its area, and embeds sustainable improvements in service delivery
• have been providing services directly to people who are at risk of, have a history of, or are currently experiencing rough sleeping for a minimum of three years
• operate in England
• have a letter of endorsement from the local authority where services will be delivered as part of the application. This is to ensure alignment with local strategies and to avoid duplication of commissioned services. Letters must be from an officer responsible for homelessness and or rough sleeping; letters from elected members will not be accepted.

As part of our standard processes, we will conduct full due diligence checks on applicants before any funding is confirmed. Selected grantees may be asked to provide recent annual reports and/or submitted accounts, and you will be deemed ineligible if you are unable to verify that you meet the criteria.

Organisations may submit only one application. If an organisation makes multiple applications, then we will assess the first one that is submitted. Please note that once an application has been submitted, it cannot be withdrawn and will be regarded as your only submission.

Partnership applications

We welcome applicants from organisations applying as part of a partnership. When applying as part of a partnership, you should demonstrate how collaboration will enhance service provision and best meet the objectives of the fund.

Partnership applications involve more than one organisation working collaboratively to achieve a shared goal; this could be on a local or regional basis. These partnerships can strengthen service delivery and broaden impact but must be structured clearly.

One organisation must act as the lead applicant and accountable body for the grant. Only the lead organisation must meet all the eligibility requirements and must submit the application on behalf of the partnership. If the application is successful, the lead organisation will be issued with the grant funding agreement and will be solely responsible for receiving and managing the funding. Partner organisations do not need to meet the eligibility criteria.

Lead Organisation Requirements

The lead organisation must be an eligible VCFS provider, as outlined in the eligibility criteria.  The lead organisation will be solely accountable for the grant, including financial management, reporting, and delivery of agreed outcomes.

Partnership Agreements

A formal partnership agreement is not required at the application stage. 1. This section is specifically about partnership applications for this grant, as opposed to when your organisations works in partnership with others as part of your general services (e.g. we expect organisations to be working in partnership with their local authority in different ways, however this doesn’t require you to submit a formal partnership application together). However, if the application is successful, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or similar agreement governing the partnership must be provided and approved before the funding is released.

We will ask you to upload a letter of confirmation from partners as part of your application.

Grants available

Eligible organisations will be able to apply for up to three years of revenue funding and one year of capital funding. Organisations can apply for between £50,000 and £200,000 per annum in revenue funding for any or all of the programme years.

Organisations may also apply for between £50,000 and £200,000 in capital funding, which can be requested for either Year 1 or Year 2 only. These limits are separate, which means that if an organisations applies for both revenue and capital in the same year, it may request up to £200,000 for revenue plus up to £200,000 for capital.

You can apply for both revenue and capital funding in your application. If you apply for revenue and capital funding, please ensure you outline interdependencies between the revenue and capital funding clearly in your bid.

Funding schedule and requirements

Funding will be issued to successful grant recipients annually, so it is essential that your cost schedule accurately reflects your funding needs for each year of the programme.

Annual funding timeline

All funding is subject to MHCLG officials having confidence of delivery outlined in the application and the signing of a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). MHCLG reserves the right to hold an initiation project meeting with any grantee prior to this signing the GFA.

• Year 1 Funding: Available to claim from June/July 2026, with payment of grant from 1 July
• Year 2 Funding: Payments are released in May 2027, subject to receipt of a grant claim
• Year 3 Funding: Payments are released in May 2028, subject to receipt of a grant claim

Capital funding availability

Capital funding will be available in either Years 1 or 2 only. You cannot apply for multiple years of capital funding.

Applicants seeking capital funding for building works will be asked to provide information on tenure security and whether they have engaged any professional advice relevant to their proposal. These questions are intended to help us understand the context and feasibility of the proposed works and score the bids appropriately.

All other information required to determine whether a capital project can be delivered within the preferred year will be drawn from the project plan, delivery milestones, and risks and mitigations sections of the application.

If your project is unlikely to be deliverable within Year 1, it may still be considered for Year 2 capital funding, you are encouraged to use Year 1 revenue funding to develop and prepare your capital project for delivery in Year 2 (from April 2027).

To be considered ready for Year 1 capital funding, you must demonstrate in your application that:

• the project has a clear and feasible delivery timeline - including any required approvals - that shows that capital works can be substantially delivered by 31 March 2027
• planning permission and any other necessary approvals are secured, submitted, or clearly scheduled
• tenure security is in place e.g. you have confirmation from the legal owner where works involve a building or site that you do not own
• you have engaged appropriate professional advice proportionate to the scale and nature of the capital project (this could include architect’s plans, quantity surveyors, designers, quotes from contractors etc.)
• qualified contractors are available to begin work within the necessary timeframe to meet Year 1 delivery deadlines

Revenue

Revenue grant can be used to fund:

• staff salaries
• project activities
• running costs including rent of premises and utilities
• small-scale refurbishments (e.g. minor decorations and repairs)
• equipment
• organisational development (e.g. workforce capability and capacity)
• contribution to the organisation’s overhead

Capital

Grants can be used to fund:

• the acquisition or upgrading of a fixed asset such as land, buildings and equipment, IT systems, fixtures and fittings.
• upgrading / enhancement works that would be undertaken to provide significant transformation and must be beyond that which could be achieved through repairs

Requirements

• capital funding must be fully spent by 31 March in the year of the grant
• if you are improving leased property, you will need to confirm whether the owner of the property has approved the works
• to be eligible for capital funding in Years 1 or 2 for building works you must evidence that work will be carried out by qualified contractors and have a clear timetable to achieve the work
• to prove readiness for capital funding in Year 1 for building works you must provide evidence of any required planning permission
• capital funding is not available for night shelters that have previously received capital funding from the Night Shelter Transformation Fund (NSTF).

Considerations

If applying for capital funding for building works, please give careful consideration to the following questions:

• ownership: who owns the building?
• what is the current use of the building?
• do you need planning permission, building regulations approval, listed building consent or landlords’ consent?
• have you appointed design team professionals, for example an architect, quantity surveyor, contract administrator, contractor, to help you?
• how have you estimated costs of the project?
• how will you procure a contractor?
• have you built in a sum for contingency into your budget?
• what kind of contract will you use?
• what risks are there in delivering the capital works to budget and on time?

Grants of either kind cannot be used to fund:

• hotel or B&B provision
• activities of a political or exclusively religious nature.
• lobbying or activity intended to influence or attempt to influence Parliament, Government or political parties
• using grant funding to petition 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
• 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
• costs incurred before the issue of a funding agreement unless agreed in writing by us.
• temporary sleeping structures
• shared/communal sleeping facilities of any kind

VAT

• the grant we offer will be a maximum and so you should ensure all relevant costs are included. Any irrecoverable input VAT should also be included.

Governance, monitoring and performance management

Governance

• the Ending Homelessness in Communities Fund will be managed as a grant by the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) team within the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping (HRS) Directorate at MHCLG
• successful applicants will be issued a legally binding Grant Funding Agreement (GFA). In partnership arrangements there will be one lead and accountable organisation
• grantees will be required to provide an annual Statement of Grant Usage (SGU) signed by their auditor or other competent professionals

Monitoring

• organisations should expect to submit data and narrative reports detailing how funding has been used, progress against objectives, and outcomes achieved
• reporting requirements may include service delivery metrics, beneficiary data, and case studies
• organisations will be expected to cooperate with any external evaluation commissioned by the department, which may include surveys, interviews, or site visits
• further details on monitoring and evaluation requirements will be provided to successful bidders in due course

Performance management

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be agreed with successful applicants.
• all agreed KPIs will be included in a Grant Funding Agreement
• all KPIs will be monitored throughout the timeline of the grant programme – full details of this will be included within a Grant Funding Agreement

Assessment criteria - what to expect

• Your application will be assessed in three parts; eligibility (unscored), evaluation (scored) and declaration (unscored)
• We may contact you for more information
• If your application fails to meet the eligibility criteria it will not be considered
• The amount you apply for may not be the same as the amount you are awarded

Part 1: Eligibility and your organisation (unscored)

The eligibility check will be applied to all applications received by the closing date. This section will confirm if your organisation meets the eligibility criteria, and we will also undertake due diligence checks using standard government tools and procedures.

Eligible organisations

Please see the eligibility criteria above for a description of eligible and ineligible organisations.

In addition to being the type of organisation listed in the eligibility criteria above you must:

• have an annual income, as reported in your most recently published annual accounts, of less than £5 million
• operate in England
• have provided services directly to people at risk of, experiencing, or with a history of rough sleeping for at least three years
• have a letter of endorsement from the local authority in which area the project operates

Your organisation

We will also ask for information about your organisation, including your authorised signatory. If you are applying as part of a partnership, we will ask you to upload a document showing the other partner organisations’ support for the bid.

Part 2: Evaluation (scored)

Applications passing the gateway assessment will be assessed by MHCLG against the following 7 criteria:

1. Skills and experience
2. Proposal Part 1: What challenges are you trying to address
3. Proposal Part 2: Proposed project and alignment to objectives
4. Deliverability and risks Part 1: Milestones, project plan and governance
5. Deliverability and risks Part 2: Risk management
6. Cost and value for money
7. Outcomes and measuring impact

Each of the criteria will be assessed by applying a score of 0-3 where 3 is the highest available score for the criteria. Assessors will consider each application against each of the following criteria and will use their judgement to give scores for each of the criteria on the following basis. 0 - unacceptable / 1 – satisfactory / 2 – good / 3 – excellent. Any application scoring 0 on any of the criteria will be rejected. Each of the criteria is weighted to reflect its importance to this funding programme. The score for each of the criteria will be multiplied by its weighting. The weighted scores will then be added together to produce the total score for the application. The maximum possible total score is 300. The total score will be used to compare against other applications. MHCLG may make further enquiries before identifying preferred applicants.

Skills and Experience

This section is weighted at 10% and the maximum score is 30.

We will ask for:

• your organisation’s objectives
• your organisation’s key activities
• evidence of your skills and experience in delivering similar projects to the one you are proposing

Proposal part 1: what challenges are you trying to address

This section is weighted at 10% and the maximum score is 30.

We will ask for:

• the challenges you are trying to address (your response should set out locally focused evidence of need and demand. This is not assessed in isolation, assessors will consider how your proposed project responds to them)

Proposal part 2: proposed project and alignment to objectives

This section is weighted at 30% and the maximum score is 90.

We will ask for:

• information about your proposed project and how they align with the grant’s objectives (including planned activities by you or a partner organisation)

Deliverability and risks part 1: milestones, project plan and governance

This section is weighted at 25% and the maximum score is 75.

We will ask for:

• your proposed projects milestones, project plan and governance arrangements (This is not assessed in isolation, assessors will consider your key risks and how they relate)

Deliverability and risks part 2: risk management

This section is weighted at 5% and the maximum score is 15.

We will ask for:

• your key risks and planned mitigations

For capital projects that include building works, we will also ask about your tenure type and engagement with professional advisors – and you will be scored as part of a balanced assessment of your proposal’s deliverability and risk.

Cost and value for money

This section is weighted 10% and the maximum score is 30.

We will ask you to:

• upload an itemised budget for your proposed project in an Excel format. The budget should be broken down by year and by quarter. If you are applying for both capital and revenue funding, you will need to provide separate breakdowns for each.

Here is a link to an example budget template:

Ending Homelessness in Communities budget template

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 20.2 KB

Outcomes and measuring impact

This section is weighted 10% and the maximum score is 30.

We will ask you about:

• how the proposed project will strengthen partnership working and improve your local systems responsiveness to homelessness related issues
• the measurable positive impacts your project will have

Part 3: letter of support & declaration (unscored)

This part is not scored, but you will need to:

• upload a letter of support for your proposed activities from the homelessness and/or rough sleeping lead officer from the Local Authority in which your services are delivered
• confirm that your organisation has a UK bank account associated with it
• agree to reporting requirements that will be issued in your grant funding agreements
• confirm the information you provide in the application is accurate to the best of your knowledge

Please note:

• MHCLG can apply additional factors when considering the short list in order to select the final list for funding
• bidders should be aware that their application should not be seen as a full and final offer, MHCLG reserves the right to negotiate and amend bids accordingly with successful applicants.

Roles and responsibilities

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will:

• assess applications against the assessment criteria
• undertake due diligence
• determine the allocation of funding based on the assessment criteria
• notify applicants of assessment decisions
• establish Grant Funding Agreements with the preferred applicants
• provide funding as agreed in the Grant Funding Agreement
• establish and undertake a monitoring and evaluation regime for the duration of the project.

If successful, you must:

• provide evidence of costs, when requested
• put in place delivery processes
• oversee delivery and contractors
• be accountable for delivery
• procure appropriate service providers and ensure they satisfy due diligence checks
• cooperate with due diligence checks
• sign a Grant Funding Agreement
• deliver bids in line with agreed plans
• deliver bids to timescales and budget
• take part in monitoring and evaluation
• comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022
• comply with the Equality Act 2010
• be responsible for providing the scheme in accordance with the UK’s international obligations in respect of subsidies

Definitions

Non-commissioned organisations

Organisations delivering specific services for which their main source of income is not formally contracted or funded by public bodies, such as local authorities or government departments.

Commissioned services	Describes services which are made possible under contract from a local authority.
Partnership	A group of organisations working together under a shared delivery plan, with one lead organisation responsible for managing the grant and coordinating delivery.
Community-based services	Local, non-residential support services delivered within the community to help people experiencing or at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping. This includes day centres, drop-ins, day services, befriending, peer support, floating support, advice and advocacy, and other practical or emotional assistance aimed at improving wellbeing, sustaining people in accommodation, delivering relational support and reducing isolation.
Day services	Services operating primarily during the day time.
Match-funding	Own resources used towards the total cost of project, alongside funders contribution.
Milestone	Key point in your projects timelines that signifies progress towards completion of the project. Examples include planning permission obtained, new staff in post or new service operational etc
Outputs	Outputs are things that can be measured as a consequence of the funded activities.
Outcomes	Outcomes are the short- to medium-term changes or benefits that occur as a result of the outputs.
Grant Funding Agreement	A grant funding agreement is a legally binding contract between a funder (grantor) and a recipient (grantee) that defines the terms, conditions, scope, and objectives for using awarded funds.
Heads of terms	Document summarising the main commercial terms of a proposed agreement between parties.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section will be added at a later date.

Published 17 February 2026