How to apply

There are 3 steps you should do to apply:

1. answer the pre-application questions
2. send an expression of interest form
3. send a formal application

Pre-application questions

You should answer these questions before applying for the fund:

1. is the main applicant an organisation?
2. is the project in a rural area as defined in the fund guidance?
3. when completed will the properties be provided at affordable rents or sold at affordable prices?
4. will the target tenant group or target buyers be those who, due to lower than average income, or higher than average rents or house prices in the area, find it difficult to access housing to meet their needs?
5. will the properties be affordable for the required period of time as set out in the guidance?
6. does the main applicant have appropriate Public Liability Insurance and Employer's Liability Insurance?
7. will/have the local community been involved in development of the proposal?
8. is the Local Authority supportive of the proposal?
9. the project has not received any previous funding from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme via a local authority?

If you answered no to any of these questions you should not apply to the Rural Housing Fund as your application is unlikely to be approved.

If you have answered yes to the above questions and would like to make an application to the Rural Housing Fund, fill in the expression of interest form and submit to rhf@gov.scot.

Expression of interest

To start the application you should send an expression of interest form to rhf@gov.scot.

Please indicate in your covering email which fund (Rural Housing Fund or Islands Housing Fund) you intend to apply for.

You'll get a reply within 15 working days. It'll say if you can apply for the fund. If you can, it'll have feedback to help you complete the application.

Applications

If you're told you can apply, you'll need to complete the application form. There is no deadline for doing this after you have been told you can apply.

Rural and Islands Housing Funds application forms are available on gov.scot:

• main application form
• feasibility application form

The fund is open for applications. Send them to rhf@gov.scot.

Main fund application

Whether you get funding or not will be based on your answers to the below questions:

• can the homes be delivered on time and in budget
• is there a housing need and demand in the area
• do these homes fit with other homes planned for the area
• is this project good value for money
• have you or will you involve the local community in this project
• will it be sustainable
• what economic benefits will it have for the area

You'll also need to show how you'll target tenants or buyers who find it difficult to get housing. This could be because of low income or expensive housing in the area.

There's a checklist at the end of the application form to help you.

Feasibility fund application

Whether you get funding or not will be based on your answers to the below questions:

• could you get money for feasibility work from somewhere else
• have you shown that you've worked with the community
• how much will the total cost be
• how long will your project take
• does the application show there's a need for the homes
• what kind of work will you use the feasibility funding for

There's a checklist at the end of the application form to help you.

Case studies

If you want an example of Rural Housing Fund projects so you can see what may be of interest to potential applicants, these case studies show five rural projects that were successful.

Although these case studies are examples of successful projects, bear in mind they are not the only ways to get funding. The scheme also welcomes new and innovative approaches.