Common Ground Award 2026–2027: £20,000–£250,000 Capital Grants for Community Cohesion in England
The UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government offers capital grants to England-based VCSE organisations and consortia that use facilities, spaces, or equipment to build connections across communities.
Common Ground Award 2026–2027: £20,000–£250,000 Capital Grants for Community Cohesion in England
The Common Ground Award 2026–2027 is a UK government capital grant for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations that bring people from different backgrounds together. The fund can support new builds, refurbishment, expansion of facilities, and essential equipment that makes community connection possible. It is aimed at organisations already doing this work as a core part of their mission, not at applicants adding a one-off social activity to an otherwise unrelated project.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the second-round prospectus on 28 August 2026. The application window opens on 14 September 2026 and closes on 12 October 2026. The department expects to notify applicants in December 2026, with payments likely in January 2027. Successful applicants should plan to incur the funded capital expenditure by 31 March 2027.
This page explains the award in practical terms: what it supports, which organisations can apply, how individual and consortium applications differ, what assessors will score, and how to prepare before the form opens.
Key details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Common Ground Award 2026–2027 |
| Funder | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government |
| Eligible area | England |
| Total fund | Up to £2.5 million in capital funding |
| Individual grant | £20,000 to £50,000, with exceptional cases considered up to £100,000 |
| Consortium grant | £100,000 to £250,000 |
| Applications open | 14 September 2026 |
| Deadline | 12 October 2026 |
| Expected outcome | December 2026 |
| Likely payment | January 2027 |
| Spend deadline | 31 March 2027 |
| Core purpose | Building social connections across and between different communities |
| Official guidance | Common Ground Award 2026 to 2027 prospectus |
The award is competitive. The published prospectus says that individual applicants can request £20,000 to £50,000, while a consortium can request £100,000 to £250,000. An individual organisation may describe a plan that could scale to £100,000, but an amount above £50,000 is for exceptional cases and requires clear evidence of need, significant expected impact, and a strong ability to deliver. The department may offer less than the amount requested.
What the Common Ground Award supports
This is capital funding. The official prospectus says grants can support new builds, refurbishment, and expansion of facilities used to build connections across and between communities. It can also pay for essential equipment such as laptops or furniture for the property. The useful question is not simply whether an item would help your organisation. It is whether the item is a capital improvement that will make it easier for people from different backgrounds to meet, participate, collaborate, or resolve tensions.
Examples might include improving a shared community venue, adapting a space for inclusive group activity, or purchasing equipment needed to operate a facility used by several communities. These examples are illustrations of the fund’s capital focus, not a guarantee that a particular purchase will be approved. If a cost is mainly routine administration, ongoing programme delivery, or general organisational overhead, do not assume it belongs in this award. Ask the funder if the classification is unclear.
The applicant’s work must directly address at least one of three themes. The first is encouraging social mixing, promoting understanding, and reducing divisions between people from different communities or backgrounds. The second is reducing prejudice, discrimination, and hatred directed at individuals or communities because of their background. The third is resolving conflict and addressing tensions across or between communities.
The award is therefore a good fit for an organisation that can connect a physical investment to a real pattern of community interaction. A new facility or equipment purchase should have a clear use: who will use it, how different groups will share it, what activity it enables, and why that activity improves connection or resilience. A generic refurbishment proposal with no explanation of community benefit is unlikely to score well.
Successful recipients will also be invited to participate in a community of practice. This is intended to support knowledge sharing between organisations and wider discussion with government stakeholders about building social cohesion across England. It is a benefit alongside the capital grant, but applicants should not present participation as a substitute for a sound delivery plan.
Who can apply
The fund is open to VCSE organisations based and operating in England with charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes. The prospectus lists registered charities, charitable incorporated organisations, companies limited by guarantee established for charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes, community interest companies, and community benefit societies as eligible structures.
An unincorporated community group or association can also be eligible, but it must meet several practical conditions. It needs a governing body with at least three members, an inclusive membership policy, and a governing document. It must be able to provide accounts for the last two financial years, hold its own UK business bank account, and be able to hold land or property and enter contracts itself or through trustees.
Every applicant must have annual turnover or income below £5 million. This test applies to each organisation in a consortium, not merely to the lead body. Public-sector organisations, local authorities, individuals, profit-distributing organisations, and regulated education-sector organisations such as schools, colleges, and universities are not eligible to apply directly.
The work must be delivered in England. A national organisation should make the England-based project and its local community benefit specific. It is not enough to describe a national mission and assume the department will infer the local result.
An organisation can apply alone or as part of a consortium, but it must choose one route. If it submits an individual application, it cannot also submit a consortium application. If it is part of a consortium, it cannot make a separate individual application. The prospectus also says an organisation is eligible to make one application, and if it submits multiple individual applications, only the first will be assessed.
Individual and consortium applications
An individual application is usually the simpler route when one organisation owns or controls the facility, understands the community need, and can deliver the improvement itself. It can request between £20,000 and £50,000. The proposal still needs evidence that the organisation’s existing work is aligned with the fund and that the capital purchase will strengthen its impact.
A consortium is a formal collaboration between two or more independent organisations that jointly plan, apply for, and deliver one funded project. The lead organisation applies on behalf of the group and will be accountable for delivery and funds. Each member must separately meet the eligibility requirements and must have community connection as a core focus of its work.
The consortium route allows a larger request, from £100,000 to £250,000, but the extra scale brings extra proof obligations. The application should explain the role of every organisation, how the partners already work together, what each contributes, and why the shared project will reach further or create more impact than separate activity. The example in the prospectus makes clear that one partner with strong alignment cannot rescue a second partner whose work does not fit the fund.
If selected, a consortium is expected to have a formal agreement between members before entering a grant agreement with MHCLG. Decide early who will own the equipment or property improvement, who will procure it, who will manage risks, and who will report results. Those questions are part of delivery readiness, not paperwork to leave until after an award.
How applications are assessed
The department uses five criteria, each scored from zero to three. Any application that receives zero against a criterion is not eligible for funding. The published weighting is strategic alignment 25%, community engagement 15%, community impact 25%, use of funding 25%, and risk and governance 10%.
Strategic alignment asks whether the organisation’s aims and activities genuinely match the Common Ground Award objective and at least one core theme. The strongest response shows that community connection is central to the organisation’s strategy, not a new phrase written for the application. Name the groups involved, describe the divisions or tensions being addressed, and link the proposed capital investment to existing work.
Community engagement asks how the organisation works with communities and other organisations. Useful evidence can include co-design, partnerships, feedback loops, work across multiple groups, and participation from historically excluded people. A list of partner logos is not enough. Explain what each relationship changes in the project and how local people influenced the proposed spend.
Community impact carries 25%. Applicants should provide recent relevant examples of stronger interaction, trust, understanding, acceptance, networks, partnerships, or conflict resolution. They also need to explain how they will continue making an impact and how they will monitor the effect of the proposed investment. Use measured evidence where possible, such as participation records, repeat engagement, feedback, referral patterns, partnership activity, or documented changes in relationships.
Use of funding also carries 25% and helps determine the size of the award. The application should include an itemised breakdown, explain how the investment meets local community needs, connect each cost to the fund’s themes, and give key delivery milestones. A larger request needs stronger evidence of additional reach, outcomes, and impact. Plan for the possibility of a reduced award and identify which parts of the project are essential.
Risk and governance is worth 10%. Describe the risks that could delay procurement, building work, access, partnership delivery, or spending by 31 March 2027. Set out who makes decisions, how risks are reviewed, and how financial controls operate. The department will carry out due diligence before releasing funding.
Application process and timeline
The prospectus says the application form will be provided on 14 September 2026. Until then, applicants can prepare from the published prospectus and scoring framework. The department is also hosting an applicant webinar on 10 September 2026, with registration linked from the official guidance page. The webinar is intended to clarify the published materials and will not introduce additional assessment criteria.
The application deadline is 12 October 2026. Treat that as the final submission date, not the date to begin collecting accounts, partnership confirmations, or cost estimates. The form will ask for organisational details, legal status, location, years of operation, income or turnover, and consortium information where relevant.
The department expects to notify applicants in December 2026. Successful applicants are likely to receive payment in January 2027, subject to a grant funding agreement and due diligence. The award should be spent by 31 March 2027. That is a short delivery window for construction, refurbishment, or equipment procurement, so the proposal needs a credible timetable and evidence that the work can happen quickly.
Materials to prepare before the form opens
Prepare a concise project brief that covers the problem, the communities involved, the capital solution, the expected change, the cost, and the delivery milestones. Keep the problem and solution connected. If the organisation is buying furniture, for example, explain what shared use or accessible activity that furniture enables. If it is refurbishing a venue, describe the existing barrier and how the improvement changes participation.
Collect the last two years of accounts and confirm the organisation’s income or turnover figure. Check that the governing document, registration details, bank arrangements, property permissions, and internal approval process are current. An unincorporated group should verify each of the additional conditions in the prospectus before applying.
Build an itemised capital budget using supplier estimates or realistic quotes where available. Separate confirmed costs from estimates. Include any contribution from other funders and state exactly which costs the Common Ground Award would pay. The fund may support a project that also has other funding, but the same cost cannot be funded twice and total funding cannot exceed eligible project costs.
Prepare evidence of community engagement and impact. Select two or three recent examples that show what changed, for whom, and how you know. Good evidence is specific and proportionate: attendance or participation data, feedback, partnership records, examples of cross-community activity, or a documented resolution of tension can all be useful when they are clearly connected to the organisation’s work.
If applying as a consortium, draft a simple responsibility map. It should show the lead organisation, each partner’s role, ownership of the capital asset, procurement responsibility, delivery milestones, decision-making, and reporting. Confirm that every partner independently meets the eligibility requirements and that the collaboration creates additional reach or value.
How to make the proposal competitive
Write to the scoring framework in the same order as the form. Make it easy for an assessor to find the evidence for alignment, engagement, impact, funding use, and governance. Avoid making one general claim about cohesion and repeating it five times. Each section should answer the criterion with a different kind of proof.
Use a clear before-and-after explanation. Describe what people from different backgrounds can do now, what prevents them from doing more, what the investment will change, and how the organisation will know that the change occurred. This structure keeps the capital request from becoming a shopping list.
Be realistic about the delivery period. The fund is intended for the 2026–2027 financial year, and applicants should show that expenditure can be incurred by 31 March 2027. If planning permission, landlord consent, specialist procurement, or contractor availability could affect the schedule, explain the risk and the action already taken to manage it.
Keep the request proportionate. An exceptional request above £50,000 from an individual organisation needs more than a larger version of a small project. Show why the additional investment will produce additional reach, outcomes, and impact, and provide evidence that the organisation can manage the work. If the project can be delivered in stages, identify the essential first stage in case the department offers less than requested.
Common mistakes to avoid
The first mistake is presenting a general operating need as a capital project. A funder may care about the organisation’s work, but the application still needs to describe a specific eligible investment in facilities, spaces, or equipment.
The second is weak thematic fit. A health, arts, education, or sports organisation is not automatically eligible just because its activity brings people together. Show that building connections across communities, reducing prejudice, or addressing tensions is a core part of the work.
The third is using vague community language. Identify the communities and backgrounds involved, explain how they interact, and state what evidence supports the need. Do not claim impact without describing how it was observed or measured.
The fourth is applying through both routes. Each organisation must choose between an individual and consortium application. Decide before the form opens and make sure partners understand that the lead body carries accountability for a consortium submission.
The fifth is ignoring the spending deadline. A capital plan that cannot be completed by 31 March 2027 is not ready, even if the idea is worthwhile. Obtain permissions, check suppliers, and set milestones before submission.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Common Ground Award currently open?
Not yet as of 8 September 2026. The official prospectus says the application window opens on 14 September 2026 and closes on 12 October 2026.
How much can an organisation request?
An individual applicant can apply for £20,000 to £50,000. It can describe a case for up to £100,000 in exceptional circumstances, but the higher amount requires unusually strong evidence of need, impact, and delivery. A consortium can request £100,000 to £250,000.
Can a local authority apply?
No. The prospectus excludes local authorities and other public-sector organisations. Eligible applicants are VCSE organisations with a charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purpose that are based and operating in England.
Can a school or university apply?
Regulated education-sector organisations, including schools and universities, are listed as ineligible. A separate eligible VCSE organisation may be able to deliver a project that uses a shared space, but it should confirm the arrangement and asset ownership with the funder.
Can an organisation apply with other funding?
Yes, the prospectus allows other funding sources, provided the same cost is not funded more than once and total funding does not exceed eligible project costs. Declare other funding and identify which costs this grant will cover.
When would successful applicants receive funding?
The published timeline says outcomes are expected in December 2026 and payment is likely in January 2027. Payment depends on due diligence and a grant funding agreement, so applicants should not commit expenditure on the assumption that an award is guaranteed.
Official links and next steps
Read the Common Ground Award 2026 to 2027 prospectus for the eligibility rules, funding limits, timeline, responsibilities, and application instructions. The same page links to the Common Ground Award scoring framework, which explains the five assessment criteria and their weightings.
Before 14 September, confirm your organisation’s eligibility, choose an individual or consortium route, gather accounts and governance documents, and turn the proposed purchase into a dated delivery plan. Prepare evidence of community impact and an itemised capital budget. Questions about the grant can be sent to [email protected]. The official application link is expected to appear on the prospectus page when the window opens.