Update on Social Housing Fuel Support Fund

Following the recent announcement of the £2 million Social Housing Fuel Support Fund, which is funded by the Scottish Government and managed and administered by SFHA, the government has provided some additional information around the funding deadlines and SFHA has created a FAQs document (available to the right of this page, in the downloads section) to support RSLs with their applications.

Unfortunately, it will not be possible for any underspend to be carried forward into the new financial year and the budget impact occurs when the final grant recipients (the RSLs) receive the funding. RSLs will therefore have to spend the funding by 31 March 2021, however, the claim for funding can be processed during the accrual period (usually the first two weeks in April).

Applicants should focus on activities which allow for budgeted spends to be carried out before 31 March 2021. Given the timescales, the Scottish Government has also confirmed that this may involve depositing funds with a third-party organisation or purchasing items, such as fuel vouchers, which are then distributed beyond the deadline, so long as the funds are deposited or spent by the RSL by the 31 March 2021.

Multiple organisations are also encouraged to work together on joint bids to reduce the number of individual applications and maximise the grant award for each project. 

Please refer to FAQs (to the right of this article, in the downloads section) for further information or get in touch if you have any queries by emailing enquiries@sfha.co.uk. The application form can also be accessed here.