Setting your budget

Tools and tips for building a budget to support a resettled family

As part of your resettlement plan you will need to design a budget. This is because you need to have an idea of the costs involved in supporting a resettled family when you are deciding what kind of support your group can offer. Having an idea of the costs will also help you to plan your fundraising activities to deliver the plan you put forward. All groups must have at least £9,000 prior to a family arriving, but you may find that you would like to fundraise more to support the family, or that you will not use all the money that you have raised.   

There will be lots of discussion in your group about what you would like to provide to a family (read our guidance on approaching your application). This resource aims to help you work out how much money you will need to deliver your plans and whether that amount is feasible for your group. We suggest you work out an annual budget. Remember that this is just an estimate at this stage.

From this page, you can download a budget template in Excel format with examples of expenses you may need to budget for. The second page of the document goes into each expense in more detail.

Available funding

Find out more about funding that is available for groups incurring property void costs and for statutory services.

What happens if we have money left over at the end of the project?

The Home Office will not ask you what will happen to leftover funding. It’s important that you speak to your Lead Sponsor about any stipulations they may make for remaining funding, and you should ensure that any grants or funds received have not been restricted. Some groups have made a donation to another Community Sponsorship group, used the funds for a second application or purchased something for the family they support. You could also consider making left over funding available to families for a future housing deposit or ILtR applications.