The answer
What can your group prepare before it gets a grant offer?
You can gather bills, booking records, ownership papers and survey information while you wait. Before paying a deposit, ordering equipment or starting work that depends on the grant, check the fund's written rules.
01 / 03
Can you make the application complete?
Demand may exceed the fund's budget. Check for missing ownership papers, booking records, bills or technical information before submitting a rushed application.
02 / 03
Gather information you can reuse
Bills, booking records and surveys will still help if your timetable changes. Deposits and equipment orders are different because you may not recover that money.
03 / 03
What if the grant is smaller or declined?
Your committee should decide whether it would reduce the work, seek other funding or stop. That is easier before it has committed to a supplier.
What is worth doing while you wait?
Your bills, building survey and a clear description of what you want to improve will still help if this funding round runs out. A deposit or special equipment order may be harder to recover. Tell your committee which preparation costs are useful either way and which payments only make sense if you get a grant.
Agree a backup plan before committing money. Could you do a smaller project, wait for another funding opportunity or pay for the work another way? Your group should decide what it can afford if the application is delayed or turned down.
What to check next
Your next steps
Where we checked the facts
Check the original information.
These official pages back up the rules and technical details above. They can change, so check them again before spending money or starting work.
Apply this to your own property
Could your community building be suitable?
Tell FLO about your building and the work your group is considering. A free survey checks what may fit; Local Energy Scotland decides CARES eligibility and funding.