Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund – financial reconciliation resource hub

For the upcoming 2025/26 reconciliation:
Only include costs incurred during the 2025/26 financial year, between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. This includes:
•    capital works completed within that period
•    costs your organisation became liable for before 31 March 2026, even if the invoice is received later

To ensure a smooth submission, start gathering and reviewing your records early. Timely documentation will help avoid the challenges experienced in the previous window.

Refer to section 4 of the guidance for the full definition of “spend incurred”. Guidance was issued directly to each grant recipient via email. If you require a copy, please contact your SPOC.

Some costs such as surveys, planning fees or consultancy work, may appear relevant to both categories. You should assess these based on the nature of the cost and its purpose.

Appendix A of the guidance provides helpful examples to support decision making. Guidance was issued directly to each grant recipient via email. If you require a copy, please contact your SPOC.

If you’ve changed how you’re classifying a cost compared to earlier submissions, please note this clearly in the comments section of your transaction listing.
 

Spend is incurred when a grant recipient becomes liable to pay for goods or services received, even if those goods and services haven’t yet been invoiced or paid for. 

To meet this definition, grant recipients should confirm that suppliers have met their obligations (i.e. delivered goods or services).

 Since these charges will be paid in the future, they are considered accrued (or incurred) expenses until they are invoiced and paid. 

The goods or services received must be ‘eligible expenditure’ - i.e. they must be eligible for grant funding as defined in the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2 scheme guidance.

The following examples do not meet the definition of ‘spend incurred’ and shouldn’t be included in your finance reconciliation return (FRT) or monthly reporting for FY2025/26:

•    a purchase order (PO) raised during the period, but where no work started under the PO
•    a contract signed during the period, but where no work started under the contract
•    the full value of a quote or supplier’s billing in advance, where no works have commenced

In all cases, eligibility depends on when the liability to pay was created. This is based on actual delivery of goods or services, not when agreements are signed or quotes are received.

Yes, provided the work was completed or the liability was incurred within the relevant financial year, i.e. before 31 March. 

Internal costs such as staff time or planning fees processed via internal journals will require alternative evidence (such as salary band confirmation and time records). Be sure to clearly explain these items in your listing.

Note: the department would prefer written confirmation from human resources colleagues for staff costs where possible.

Yes, if you’re making valid corrections or adjustments (such as reversing a previous estimate). If you’re entering a negative transaction, be sure to clearly explain the reason in the comments and reference any previous submission where relevant.  

Each financial year’s documentation should stand alone. If you need to revisit a previous year’s financial reconciliation, speak to your SPOC or the delivery partner team. 

Only non-recoverable VAT should be included. Record this as a separate line in your transaction list if needed. 

Reclaimable VAT should not be included.

Yes. If the works were completed and you became liable for the cost by 31 March 2025, you should include it in your 2024/25 reconciliation. Add a note in your listing to explain the situation.

Please speak with your SPOC for best support. 

Yes. If you’ve moved costs between categories or revised values based on new information, you’re required to explain the change in the comments section of the transaction listing. This helps to avoid confusion during review.

Update your transaction list with the actual invoiced costs. 

If you need to revisit a previous year’s financial reconciliation, speak to your SPOC or the delivery partner team. 

Try to obtain a breakdown from the contractor. If that’s not available, you can split the cost based on your own records, with clear third-party evidence to support how the figures were calculated.

Once your reconciliation is submitted:

•    the delivery partner team will review your template
•    you may be sent queries or asked to make changes to your reconciliation template and resubmit. Please respond as soon as reasonably possible to prevent delays in finalising evidence reviews
•    a sample of transactions will be selected for evidence checking (usually within five working days)
•    you’ll be asked to provide supporting documentation for those items, if anything is unclear you may be contacted for clarification or additional details
•    please ensure your sample responses are submitted promptly to keep the process on track.

If your submission or evidence is still outstanding, please prioritise this. If you are unsure what is missing or need help resolving an issue, reach out to your SPOC or the relevant team.