Rural England Prosperity Fund
Chichester District Council has been awarded further funding from the Government from the Rural England Prosperity fund for 2025/26.
- The purpose of rural funding
- Application deadline
- Rural funding key points
- Funding documentation
- Apply for the Rural England Prosperity Fund grant
The purpose of rural funding
Chichester District Council has been allocated £215,508 funding in the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF).
The Rural England Prosperity Fund provides capital funding to:
- Support new and existing rural businesses to develop new products and facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams. £107,754 has been allocated to this in grant funding for 2025/26.
- Support new and improved community infrastructure, providing essential community services and assets for local people and businesses to benefit the local economy. £107,754 has been allocated to this in grant funding for 2025/26.
This funding is intended to help address the extra needs and challenges facing rural areas and must be used for capital projects only. For example, on lasting assets such as a building or equipment.
Please read: Rural England Prosperity Fund: prospectus updates for 2025 to 2026 (opens new window).
Application deadline
Applications for the fund are now open and the deadline for completing submissions and returning to us is midnight on Monday 9 June 2025.
Consideration of projects will be undertaken either through officer or member delegation dependant on value. It is expected that this process will be undertaken between June and July 2025 when applicants will then be advised if they have been successful.
To comply with the requirements of the scheme, projects must be delivered and completed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.
Rural funding key points
- Rural England Prosperity Fund cannot be used on projects in Chichester city, Southbourne or Westbourne. Further details on specific locations of eligibility are in the links provided.
- Projects will require match funding of a minimum of 20% and individual grants will not exceed £25,000.
- Rural England Prosperity Fund cannot be awarded to any projects which have already benefited from other DEFRA funding.
- There is specific criteria set by Government, which Chichester District Council will be required to adhere to and we will be asking grant recipients to sign up to a grant agreement to ensure that the requirements of the funding streams are met.
- Projects will need to follow our Procurement process as set out in the Rural England Prosperity Fund Grant policy.
Allocation of funds will be undertaken through a competitive process, and we will not be able to meet all requests.
Funding documentation
The following documents shows the locations in our district where projects are not considered to be eligible for the scheme, as well as the grant policy:
Map showing Rural England Prosperity fund exclusion (Word doc, 497 KB)
Rural England Prosperity Fund grant policy (Word doc, 27 KB)
Guidance Notes REPF Grant 2025-26 (Word doc, 29 KB)
Apply for the Rural England Prosperity Fund grant
If you would like to be considered for a grant please discuss with a Funding Advisor before submitting an application.
For business grants
Apply for a business Rural England Prosperity Fund grant
For community grants
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