Significant projects and programmes

ACRE acts as the broker for the government’s strategic investment in the ACRE Network. For the period 2021 to 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has committed £1.7m to support core network activity in support of rural community projects, encourage shared learning between members and access to local intelligence. A focus is on responding to Covid-19 and helping rural communities recover from the pandemic.

We are pleased to offer a new £3 million grant fund, which is available to village halls across England to support the modernisation and improvement of buildings. ACRE is administering the fund on behalf of Defra, which announced the funding in May 2022 to mark Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Find out more and apply today.

We are delivering a £2.5m programme on behalf of Defra which is backing ACRE Network Rural Housing Enablers (RHEs) to work with communities and help them secure small scale affordable housing schemes that fit in with the local area. Support will include help with assessing local need for housing, and brokering conversations with planners and socially minded developers to identify and bring forward suitable schemes.