This article outlines NHS England’s £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF) and what it means for practices across England. It explains the funding process, grant agreement requirements, legal and financial considerations, and key deadlines practices need to meet.
The Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF) is allocated use during the 2025/2026 financial year to support upgrades to the primary care premises stock, a significant opportunity for over 1000 practices in England which have been allocated funds.
The aim is to improve primary care premises throughout the country after years of under investment in the sector. Allocations have already been decided and a list of practices which will receive the money has been published. Practices were required to submit a proposal for spending and approval depends on value of money, how many patients will benefit and how many more appointments will be released.
NHS England has provided a short-form grant agreement for UMF grants under £144,000. For grants over this amount there is a longer form NHS England grant agreement applicable to both leasehold and freehold properties.
Importantly for grants of more than £144,000 a legal charge over the premises will be required. This needs to be considered at an early stage as banks will need to consent to practices granting second charges over the premises and this may involve a review of loan obligations and serviceability.
In a sector where GPs can often have high loan to value ratios this further requirement may cause difficulty and risks delaying completion of the grant and legal documentation. The grant agreements are not open to negotiation and contain important obligations and practices should take advise to ensure they fully understand the terms of the grant and the obligations. The practice must agree to use the improved practice premises for a guaranteed minimum period of time failing which they may be required to repay some or all of the grant.
The current NHS England policy is that all projects must be completed by March 2026. There has also been pressure to have all grant documents in an agreed form by Christmas 2025 in order to secure funding. This deadline has passed with a considerable number of grant agreements not yet completed.
Given the fact there are a considerable number of practices trying to secure bank consents and experiencing delays in appointing contractors and agreeing start dates we suspect there will have to be some flexibility in this timescale.
For more information or if you would like to discuss this process in more detail please contact Ben Tarrant.
