Forestry Commission
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) is currently closed for new applications. Sign up to receive Forestry Commission e-alerts to receive notification of when the fund will re-open. To apply for UTCF applicants will need to register with Rural Payments to obtain a Single Business Identifier (SBI). The 2022 application round (now closed) has a planting budget of 3.8 million (excluding establishment payments) for the coming planting season 2022/23.
UTCF first opened in 2019 and to date has held 4 rounds of funding. UTCF supports both block bids and individual applications. A block bid is designed for organisations to apply for funding for multiple projects that can be geographically dispersed or focused in one area but submitted under one application.
The guideline for block bids is a minimum UTCF funding requirement of 125,000. Individual applications are for smaller, focused areas of planting undertaken by small organisations or community groups. These individual applications will need a minimum UTCF funding requirement of 10,000 up to a maximum of 30,000.
The UTCF provides funding for anyone who wants to plant trees in urban or peri-urban areas, if you have full management control or consent to use the land for the duration of your agreement and your planting location is within an urban area (see definition of eligible land).
The fund provides 50% of published standard costs for planting and establishment. The remaining costs of planting and establishing trees supported under the UTCF must be met through match funding, either in the form of money or labour. Agreement holders can complete tree planting over two planting seasons: winter 2022/2023 and winter 2023/24. However, applications must have at least 50% of tree planting scheduled in 2022/23.
The UTCF is a competitive fund and your application will be scored and ranked to identify projects that will provide the greatest environmental and social benefits to an area. Value for money may also be considered, with additional points being awarded where applications demonstrate this (for example, by containing a higher number of trees relative to competing applications).
Our guide could help you decide which grant is right for you and give you the extra information you might need to help complete your application.
Find out if youre eligible
Who can apply?
Anyone can apply for the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF), if you either have full management control over the land or signed consent from those with management control over the land for the duration of the Agreement. Agents are also able to apply on behalf of an organisation or landowner. Any individual or organisation can submit up to 2 distinct applications to the UTCF. Multiple applications from the same applicant will be ranked and scored independently from one another.
Where the applicant does not have full management control over the land in the application (for example, the applicant is a tenant, trustee, joint owner or representative of a group of adjoining owners), we will require written permission from all parties with management control over the land before an agreement can be issued. This should come in the form of countersignatures on the application form.
Land submitted in an UTCF application does not need to be registered on the Rural Land Register, but applicants will need to register with Rural Payments to obtain a Single Business Identifier (SBI) and a Customer Reference Number (CRN). This must be provided on the application form.
Eligible land
Land included in a UTCF application must fall within an urban area. An urban area, as defined for the purposes of the UTCF, is a built-up area (based on Office of National Statistics data) with a population of at least 2,000 people, and a buffer of 1km to account for peri-urban planting. This can be identified on the Forestry Commission map browser using the UTCF Trees Close to People layer located in the Targeting and Scoring list of map layers. You must confirm in your application that your land falls entirely within this map layer.
How to apply
The application window for the Urban Tree Challenge Fund has now closed.
Further information
To find out more about the fund read the .
The fund is now closed, for reference the 2022 application form and application annex can be still be viewed, please note applications to the fund are not currently being accepted.
You must not undertake any planting or ground preparation detailed in your application form until you have a signed agreement with the Forestry Commission in place.
Maps
You must submit a map with your application, identifying the areas proposed for planting. Maps should be produced at a scale of 1:1,250. Where application areas are in more than one geographical area, a map for each will be required. For further information about mapping standards please refer to the UTCF grant manual.
Terms and conditions
Read the
How it works
What is funded
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund provides 50% funding of standard costs (see Table 1 - Standard cost below) for planting large trees and their establishment costs for 3 years following planting. The funding supports the cost of buying a tree, planting in grass, the cost of basic protection and the labour required to plant it.
Establishment payments support the cost of weeding, watering and checking trees during multiple visits over a 3 year period.
The grant rate available per tree is 50% of standard costs and we will not fund anything above this value.
Table 1 - Standard Costs
| Description | 100% Standard Cost () (planting and 3 years of establishment) | Funding rate - 50% of Standard Cost () |
|---|---|---|
| Supply a standard tree, with a clear stem up to 1.8m from ground level with a head of branches. Standards come in a range of sizes and age is dependent on species and growth rate. Funding is based on a 14-16cm standard. Prepare a tree pit in a grass verge (other planting surfaces are acceptable, but the payment rate is fixed), with local authority approved pit edging. Plant tree with twin stakes, watering tube and mulch. Supply a lightweight steel mesh tree guard (the protection must be suitable for the planting location). | 270.45 | 135.23 |
| Water young tree in pit via tube applying a minimum of 60 litres per visit, 14 visits per year. Weed and check stake and ties, 7 visits per season. | 189 per year for three years | 94.50 per year for three years |
Protection measures including the type of guard used must be appropriate for the planting location, but anything above those listed in the standard costs table will have to b