The Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route – Frequently Asked Questions
29th January, 2026
Streamlined Routes are subsidy control exemptions, available for use by any public authority which is able to satisfy all the relevant conditions. On 12 January 2026 the government published the 'Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route'. In this article, subsidy control lawyer Alexander Rose explains how public authorities can make use of this Streamlined Subsidy Scheme.
Introduction
As explained in Ward Hadaway’s article, ‘Streamlined Routes in subsidy control law‘, published in December 2025, a Streamlined Route is a subsidy control exemption which may be created by a Minister of the Crown under Section 10(5) of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 for “categories of subsidies at especially low risk of causing market distortions, that promote UK strategic policy objectives”. Streamlined Routes are also called Streamlined Subsidy Schemes.
The primary advantage of a Streamlined Route is that if the conditions are met, it is not necessary for the public authority to carry out an individual Subsidy Control Principles assessment, nor is it necessary for the public authority to refer the subsidy to the Competition and Markets Authority as a ‘Subsidy of Particular Interest’. Therefore Streamlined Routes can save time and add certainty to the subsidy award process.
However, a Streamlined Route will only provide cover where all the conditions have been met. If only 90% of the conditions are met, the Streamlined Route will not provide cover.
When can the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Subsidy Scheme be used?
The Community and Regeneration Streamlined Subsidy Scheme (SC11450) was laid in parliament on the 12 January 2026.
This action started a 40-working-day period during which either the House of Commons or the House of Lords can pass a resolution to reject the creation of the Streamlined Route. If no such resolution is brought within this period, then the Streamlined Route is regarded to have been approved and a challenge cannot be brought against the establishment of the Streamlined Route at a later date.
The Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route has been made available for use from 12 January 2026 and is expected to be operational until 11 January 2032.
The government is of the view that should a resolution against the creation of the Streamlined Route be brought, then the Streamlined Route will be treated as ‘not having been made’ with effect from the day after the resolution is made and that “any subsidies given under a Streamlined Route prior to Parliament making this decision would not be affected“.
Which kinds of subsidy can be supported under the cover of the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Subsidy Scheme?
The Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route has been created with the aim of supporting public authorities achieve two specific strategic policy objectives, these being:
- Community – encouraging investment in community infrastructure with the aim of promoting stronger, sustainable, cohesive, and attractive communities where residents have access to the facilities and services they need to thrive; and
- Regeneration – to drive economic growth through investment in brownfield land and underused buildings.
The Streamlined Route sets out general conditions which must be satisfied for all awards, including checks against the prohibited categories and requirements relating to the application form, form of subsidy and transparency[1].
Strand 1 – Community
The community strand supports subsidy of:
- up to £300,000 towards community infrastructure feasibility support, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 100%;
- up to £2.5m towards the acquisition/renovation of existing community infrastructure or to create new community infrastructure, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 80%; and
- up to £200,000 towards operational support for community infrastructure, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 75% in the first year reducing to 25% by the third year.
The total maximum subsidy under Strand 1 is £3m.
Strand 2 – Regeneration
The regeneration strand supports subsidy of:
- up to £12m towards a project[2] that involves the redevelopment of brownfield land and/or underused buildings in order to deliver a new use that contributes to improved productivity and supports economic growth. The maximum subsidy ratio is 100%, but the award of subsidy must also fall within a calculated viability gap.
Applying the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route in practice
There are two main pinch points affecting the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route.
The first pinch point is interpretation. Each of the conditions within the Streamlined Route is qualified by the explanatory memorandum and the guidance note. Subsidy control is a challenge regime and a rival wishing to stop a subsidy awarded under a Streamlined Route would look to these sources to argue that the interpretation of a condition is different to that applied by the public authority.
The second pinch point is that there are multiple conditions, each of which must be met for a measure to have cover. In written advice we recently provided on the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route, twenty-six points were checked to reach a view on compliance.
Therefore, although the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route is to be welcomed, public authorities need to put in place an audit trail at the time funding is awarded to demonstrate that each condition has been properly considered and is met.
Conclusion
The creation of the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route is good news for those involved in administering subsidies, particularly those involved in providing grants and subsidised loans to unlock the delivery of housing and other infrastructure upon brownfield sites. This is because the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Subsidy Scheme provides an option to reduce the level of administration involved in the award process when compared to conducting an individual subsidy control principles review. However, care needs to be taken to ensure that every one of the relevant conditions has been satisfied, otherwise cover will not be in place.
If you have any questions related to subsidy control law, please get in touch with Alexander Rose.
[1] The budget of the Community and Regeneration Streamlined Route is listed on the National Transparency Database as being £12m. This is understood to reflect the maximum subsidy available under Strand 2.
[2] This figure of £12m for the Regeneration Strand has been the source of surprise to many subsidy control practitioners. When the Subsidy Control Act 2022 was debated by Parliament in 2022 it was decided that any subsidy with a value of over £10m needed “additional scrutiny and review” as these “are more likely to cause negative effects on competition and investment within the United Kingdom or in relation to the United Kingdom’s trading partners“. This threshold was increased to £25m in August 2024.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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