Rural England Prosperity Fund: areas covered by the scheme

We also publish detailed guidance on who can apply to the rural fund, what types of projects can be funded.

The Rural England Prosperity Fund ('Rural Fund') is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It is centrally managed by Defra (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs) and administered locally by us.

Areas covered by the scheme

Not all of the area administered by us are within the rural fund scheme area.

This is because not all areas of New Forest district qualify as 'rural' as defined by Defra using an official statistical definition of rural areas based on the 2011 Census.

In summary, for rural fund purposes, rural areas are defined as:

• towns, villages and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside
• market or 'hub towns' with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services

Other councils across England with qualifying rural areas may also have Rural England Prosperity Fund schemes for businesses and projects in their areas. Please check on the relevant council websites for more details about their priorities and eligibility criteria.

Eligibility

Applicants to the New Forest Rural Fund for Businesses must be based within the New Forest Rural Fund area and can demonstrate that the grant funded investment will benefit the economy of the New Forest Rural Fund area, for example through jobs and growth.

Applicants to the New Forest Rural Fund for Community Infrastructure must be able to demonstrate that the project is located in the New Forest Rural Fund area.

Check if an address is within the New Forest Rural Fund area

You can check the New Forest Rural Fund areas map and postcode lookup.

This is a guide to help you to use the search facility on the map (PDF) [225KB] .

Contact us

If you are not sure about the mapping results please email BusinessSupport@nfdc.gov.uk or call 023 8028 5735.