Sustainable drainage concept design grant

A funding opportunity of £300,000 has been allocated to support the development of small-scale, retrofit local Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS)/sustainable drainage schemes in Wales. This fund is designed to support the concept design stage development for SuDS projects on existing sites. Once the concept designs are developed, there may be an opportunities to further develop and deliver these schemes through future competitive grant stages.

Find out more about concept design in the RIBA Plan of Work 2020 overview.

Grant details

• Grants will range from £15,000 to £30,000
• These grants will enable individuals, community groups, and organisations to undertake  concept design studies that could potentially lead to the implementation of SuDS in the future
• Priority will be given to sustainable and innovative solutions that address local drainage and water management issues

Closing date to apply: 23:59 on 30 June 2025.

Programme objectives

1. To develop concept design studies for retro-fit, small-scale sustainable drainage (SuDS)/surface water management schemes that would manage rainwater, offer resilience for the sewerage networks and improve water quality.
2. Enhance biodiversity and ecology through nature-based solutions.
3. Provide health, well-being and amenity benefits.
4. Support/embed collaboration with the community.
5. Include innovative or novel techniques that improve current approaches and provide new evidence.
6. Contribute to reduction of carbon emissions.

Schemes also need to consider:

• monitoring
• future maintenance costs of the potential scheme.
• landowner permissions and other consents needed

The project must also be in Wales - for any cross-border proposals, we'll consider only the Welsh element.

We particularly want to support projects in our priority areas, these are:

• Welsh opportunity catchments
• Water Framework Directive (WFD) Regulations protected areas - river basin management plans 2021-2027: protected area register
• Medium or high risk flood areas - check your flood risk by postcode
  
  

Who can apply

• Individuals
• Public sector organisations
• Registered charities
• Universities, other higher education institutions and research institutes
• Third sector organisations
• Private sector organisations

The lead applicants must:

• show evidence of having delivered at least one sustainable drainage/SuDS project in the last decade, or
• provide confirmation of technical support from a partner who has experience of delivering sustainable drainage/SuDS schemes on the ground - and can provide technical support
  
  

How much you can apply for

You can apply for between £15,000 to £30,000 of funding. 

You can ask for up to 100% of your project costs.

We'll consider value for money when we make decisions about using public money to deliver our policy. We'll view match funding favourably. Match funding can include:

• cash contribution
• volunteer time
• staff time
  
  

When you can apply

We're accepting applications from 7 April 2025.

You must apply before midnight on 30 June 2025.

We aim to give you a decision on your application by September 2025.

Delivery of the concept design reports will be between September 2025 and February 2026.

The final claim date will be 28 February 2026.

How to apply

You'll need a reference number to start your grant application.

Find out how to prepare and submit your application online.

What you can spend a grant on

You can spend our SuDS/sustainable drainage concept design grant on:

• direct project jobs costs, equipment, contractors and consultants, one-off professional fees directly associated with project related costs
• overheads – capped at 15% of project staff costs
• survey and monitoring, including equipment
• community engagement activities
• costs of consents and permissions
  
  

What you can't spend a grant on

You cannot spend our SuDS/sustainable drainage concept design grant on:

• new building developments required to include Sustainable Drainage Systems which comply with National Statutory SuDS Standards
• Developments applied to the trunk road network managed by the Welsh Government. Equivalent provision for SuDS for these roads is contained in Volume 4 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges
• survey or monitoring not linked to proposed works
• funding your organisation's core activities
• work outside Wales
• funding commercial or profit-making activities
• maintenance costs on Public Rights of Way
• schemes where work has been completed or is underway or for ongoing management/maintenance
• personal study or the pursuit of individual academic or professional qualifications
• work within NRW’s statutory remit
• to fund grant programmes
• VAT: the costs should exclude VAT unless you are not - and have no plans to be - VAT registered
• activity which you currently or will have a duty to discharge through planning conditions
• to undertake a feasibility study for a retrofit SuDS/sustainable drainage scheme
  
  

What grant recipients will need to provide

You must provide a copy of a feasibility report that has been undertaken for the project site(s) that you are applying for within this grant application.  The feasibility report should include  details of the expected benefits that could be achieved by the SuDS/Sustainable Drainage System design and also include:

1. Surface water runoff destination – details of the use and destination of any surface water runoff from the project development site(s)
2. Surface water runoff hydraulic control – details of any hydraulic management control where there may be discharges of surface water run off directed to surface water bodies, surface water sewers or combined sewerages systems. 
3. Water Quality – details of any surface water quality management provided to prevent negative impacts on the receiving water body and/or protect downstream drainage systems including sewers.

Find information about benefits in SuDS design in the SuDS Manual.

You must provide relevant measurements in your application to show what you expect your concept design project could potentially achieve, some examples below:

• length of watercourse or waterbody to be improved
• volume of water infiltrating to ground
• number of potential properties with additional flood protection
• size/type of green and blue space to be created
• number of people potentially benefitting from the scheme
• hectares of woodland to be planted

It is also possible to estimate benefits prior to delivery by using tools such as the Benefits Estimation Tool.

Other permissions or consents

If you need permits, consents, or any other type of permission from us, you will need to complete this in addition to this application for funding.  Ensure you build time for this into your grant project plan.

How we score applications

Find out how we score sustainable drainage scheme concept design grant applications.

We will take into consideration priority locations, how well applications deliver against the priorities, engagement with the community/residents alongside our standard scoring.

Future funding options

Further competitive grant rounds to develop and deliver small-scale retrofit sustainable drainage (SuDS) or surface water removal schemes is planned:

• Detailed design study development 2026/27
• Delivery of small-scale retrofit SuDS schemes 2027/28