Local Authority Funding for Businesses and Communities

Local authorities receive funding from several sources: central government grants, council tax receipts, business rates, commercial income, and in some cases borrowing. They use a portion of this income to support economic development, regeneration, and community activities in their area.

For businesses, this typically means access to business development grants (often UKSPF-funded), premises improvement grants for heritage or town centre properties, employment grants to subsidise taking on new staff, and start-up support through incubators and co-working spaces that are either subsidised or offer grant access.

For community and voluntary organisations, councils often administer community grant schemes, sport and recreation grants (sometimes through partnerships with Sport England), and arts and culture grants via agreements with Arts Council England or through their own cultural budgets. Some councils have dedicated voluntary sector liaison officers who can help you navigate the funding available.

The simplest way to find local authority funding is to visit your council's website and search for terms such as "business grants", "community grants", "voluntary sector funding", or "economic development". Most councils publish their current funding opportunities in an economic development or regeneration section of their website.

If you cannot find what you are looking for online, contact the council's economic development team directly. They can tell you about current schemes, upcoming funding rounds, and whether your project or business is likely to be eligible. Many councils also hold regular business networking events or funding briefings where they explain what is available.

For community groups, the council's community development or voluntary sector team is the best starting point. They will know about small grants programmes, community buildings funding, and any partnership arrangements the council has with charitable foundations or lottery distributors.

While not a grant in the traditional sense, business rates relief reduces your operating costs and is administered by your local council. Several reliefs are available:

• Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) — Businesses with a single property with a rateable value below £12,000 pay no business rates. Tapered relief applies between £12,000 and £15,000.
• Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief — Has been available in various forms in recent years, reducing bills for qualifying properties in England. Check with your council for the current position.
• Charitable Rate Relief — Registered charities get 80% mandatory relief on business rates, with councils able to award discretionary top-up relief of a further 20%.
• Rural Rate Relief — Available to certain businesses in rural settlements with populations under 3,000.

Apply for all reliefs you are entitled to through your local council's business rates team. Reliefs are not automatically applied — you must make a claim.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund has devolved significant spending decisions to local level. Each area — typically a local authority or combined authority — published an investment plan setting out how it would spend its UKSPF allocation across three financial years. These plans are now largely set, but some funding rounds are still open.

UKSPF investment in businesses typically flows through local grant programmes with eligibility criteria set by the local area. Common UKSPF business grants include capital grants for equipment or premises, grants to support digital adoption, and funding for employing apprentices or graduates. The amounts range from a few thousand pounds to £100,000 or more for larger capital projects.

To find what UKSPF funding remains available in your area, contact your local Growth Hub or council economic development team. Be aware that the UKSPF programme runs to March 2025 in its current form, and successor arrangements are subject to government decisions.