Over 1,000 fewer applications were submitted for the latest phase of the Tier 1 capital grant scheme.

A spokesperson for DAERA confirmed that 2,816 applications were received for the fourth tranche of the scheme before last Friday’s deadline.

It compares to over 3,800 applications in the third tranche of Tier 1 back in December 2020. Uptake in the latest tranche is also lower than the first two phases of Tier 1 which opened in 2016 and 2018.

However, the fourth tranche of Tier 1 could still be oversubscribed if its current budget remains unchanged at £10m.

Average grant

The average successful grant for machinery and equipment in the third tranche was around £5,150 and if this applied in the latest tranche, then over 850 applicants would be unsuccessful.

That said, DAERA is not ruling out increasing the current budget by adding funds from elsewhere, such as unspent money from the previous tranche of Tier 1.

“The budget for Tranche 4 is still £10m. DAERA will review the availability of unspent funds from Tranche 3 with the aim of optimising the positive impact of FBIS-Capital,” a department spokesperson said.

The latest figures from DAERA indicate that around 25% of successful applicants in the third tranche of Tier 1 had not drawn down grant funding at the end of September 2022.

The slow uptake stems from delays with machinery manufacturers, as well as increased costs of equipment and tighter farm finances since initial applications were submitted in 2020.

While more third-tranche claims are expected to be submitted, there are still likely to be leftover funds which could help get the majority of eligible fourth-tranche applicants over the line.

DAERA has confirmed letters of offer to successful applicants will start to be issued from December 2022 onwards. Initial offers will go to applicants who gained the highest scores in the points-based selection criteria.