Consent now required to transfer grant liabilities

Posted: 17/07/2023

Recent changes to the Capital Funding Guide will impact all registered providers disposing of, or considering a disposal of, grant funded property. 

Homes England updated chapter 7 of its Capital Funding Guide on 30 June 2023 which sets out the rules and requirements for grant funded schemes that grant recipients must follow.

The Capital Funding Guide has been amended so that approval from Homes England must be given when a grant funded property is transferred from one registered provider to another. Previously, this happened automatically, and no consent was required. Without such approval going forward, such transfers will be a disposal and the grant may become recoverable by Homes England. 

Registered providers undertaking stock transfers, swaps or disposals to other registered providers will therefore need to take this into account and ensure that consent is obtained. This is done by filling out a registered provider transfer form, a copy of which can be found on the government website.

The form must be completed and sent to Homes England (by email) as least 14 days prior to the proposed transfer taking place. As this is very much a new process, we would recommend giving more notice to help avoid any potential delays, especially if the transfer is time critical.  

Once received, Homes England will consider the form and cannot unreasonably withhold its consent to the transfer. The registered provider that is receiving the stock must also sign an undertaking to:

• accept the amount and conditions of the stock’s grant liability;
• agree to the terms for grant recovery set out in the Grant Recovery Determination 2017.

Registered providers are also required to keep adequate records of grants transferred to and from other registered providers or third parties in respect of transfers of grant funded assets. Amendments to the apportionment of grant can only be made with the prior agreement of Homes England.

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