Last updated October 2026
Most playground, court and pitch projects are paid for by stacking two or three sources, and each source has its own rules on what it can buy. A primary school’s PE and sport premium can repaint the lines on an existing playground but cannot build a MUGA or a daily mile track. Sport England’s Movement Fund gives £300 to £15,000 against money you raise locally, the Football Foundation funds 3G and small-sided football facilities with community use, and the LTA lends to tennis venues at 5% fixed.
Check the last column before you plan a bid: it is where most applications go wrong.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Source | What it pays for | Amount | Who can apply | What it will not pay for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PE and sport premium | Revenue spending, including maintenance of existing assets; the guidance’s example is repainting playground lines | 2026 to 2027: £6,240 plus £10 per pupil (17 or more eligible pupils); £390 per pupil (16 or fewer) | Primary schools | Capital spending. The guidance names multi-use games areas, active mile tracks and fixed playground equipment. Unspent money cannot roll over |
| Condition Improvement Fund 2026 to 2027 | Condition, compliance, health and safety projects | £20,000 minimum (primary and special), £50,000 minimum (secondary), £4,000,000 maximum | Stand-alone academies, sixth-form colleges, small trusts and small voluntary aided bodies | Playgrounds and surfacing are not named as priorities; resurfacing car parks is the guidance’s example of low-priority work. The round closed on 16 Dec 2025 |
| Sport England Movement Fund | Projects that help people be active, including improving or creating spaces to be active in | £300 to £15,000; Sport England gives half if you raise the other half | Community groups, educational establishments, public sector bodies and registered charities | Spending you need sooner than 12 weeks after applying |
| Football Foundation | 3G pitches, small-sided facility improvements, PlayZones, fencing, portable floodlights, 3G maintenance machinery | Up to £25,000 listed for 3G pitches, fencing and floodlights | Clubs, schools and councils whose facility is open to the community | Private gain, facilities without community use, routine maintenance, work already done, projects outside England |
| LTA facility loans | Tennis and padel facility projects, with priority for covered courts | Loans at 5% fixed; a discretionary 50% interest reduction in the most deprived areas | Properly constituted, not-for-profit, inclusive and accessible venues | Individuals and companies limited by shares. Resurfacing is not mentioned |
| Community Infrastructure Levy, neighbourhood share | Community facilities chosen by the parish | 15% of CIL receipts from development in the parish; 25% with an adopted neighbourhood plan | Town and parish councils | Money left unspent for five years may have to be repaid |
Can PE and sport premium pay for playground surfacing?
Only for upkeep of what the school already has. The 2026 guidance says the premium must not fund capital spending and names multi-use games areas, active mile tracks and fixed playground equipment as capital. It allows revenue maintenance of existing assets “in some circumstances”, and its own example is repainting lines on a playground.
That makes a refresh of faded school playground markings the clearest surfacing job the premium can cover. A new MUGA pitch or a new daily mile track needs capital money from somewhere else. DfE says it cannot give individual advice on whether a cost is capital, so where a job sits on the line, keep your own record of why you classed it as you did. This year’s allocation has to be spent by 31 July 2027.
Which grants can pay for a new MUGA or 3G pitch?
For football use in England, start with the Football Foundation; for community activity of any kind, add Sport England’s Movement Fund. Neither covers a whole build. Sport England’s own cost guide puts a fenced, floodlit macadam MUGA of 782 m2 at £190,000 and a junior 3G pitch at £515,000 to £545,000, excluding VAT, so a bid usually puts grant money alongside the organisation’s own capital or a council contribution.
The Football Foundation’s condition that the facility is open to the community matters most for schools: a school-only pitch is excluded. Costs to bid against are set out on 3G football pitch construction and MUGA cost.
How does the Movement Fund work in practice?
You ask for between £300 and £15,000, and Sport England can give half of what you need once you raise the other half from your community. Projects that improve or create spaces to be active in are one of its listed project types. Apply at least 12 weeks before you plan to spend the money, so the application belongs early in a school or club’s calendar, not after a contractor has been booked.
Sport England’s funding helpline answers eligibility questions on 0345 8508 508, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
Can a tennis club borrow to build or resurface courts?
Yes, if it is a properly constituted, not-for-profit venue: the LTA lends at 5% fixed, and can halve the interest at its discretion in the most deprived areas. Covered courts get priority. The LTA’s page does not mention resurfacing, so ask the LTA before you build a bid around a tennis court resurfacing cost. For new courts, budgets start from the LTA’s own figure of £150,000 to £200,000 for a set of four, explained on tennis court construction.
Can an academy use the Condition Improvement Fund for a playground?
Rarely. The fund’s priorities are compliance, health and safety, and the guidance does not name playgrounds or sports surfacing; its example of low-priority “other works” is resurfacing car parks. A playground surface that has become a genuine safety issue may be worth raising with your trust’s estates lead, but plan on another source for anything else. The 2026 to 2027 round closed at noon on 16 December 2025, with outcomes due in May 2026.
How can a parish council fund a play area or MUGA resurfacing?
Through its share of the Community Infrastructure Levy, alongside its own reserves. Parishes receive 15% of CIL from development in their area, or 25% where a neighbourhood plan has been adopted, and can spend it on community facilities. Money not spent within five years may have to be handed back, which is a good reason to put a MUGA resurfacing or play area job on the agenda once the receipts arrive.
Real parish quotes show the scale: three contractors priced resurfacing a 713 m2 MUGA at £24,000 to £26,400 before VAT in early 2025. See councils and parish councils for how those quotes were set out.
How it works
- 01Send a plan and photosThe site, the surface and the date it must reopen.
- 02We check the groundLevels and where the water drains.
- 03Written quoteBuilt around your reopening date.
Can private schools, holiday parks or developers get a grant?
Seldom. The Football Foundation excludes projects for private gain, and the LTA’s loans exclude individuals and companies limited by shares. An independent school that opens its courts or pitch to local clubs may fit some community rules, so read each funder’s terms before assuming it does. Holiday parks and developers should budget as if no grant will come.
What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
The PE and sport premium, the Movement Fund and the Football Foundation programmes in the table are England schemes. In Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, ask your national sports council about its current schemes before you plan a bid.
When should you get a quote for a funding bid?
Before you apply. Funders want a costed project, and a written quote fixes the specification and the figure you are bidding for. Ask for it itemised, so the parts a grant can pay for sit on separate lines from the parts it cannot, for example new markings against repainting, or a new fence against the court surface.
A survey also flags ground, drainage and access costs early, before a grant is awarded against a figure that turns out to be too low. If the project needs planning permission, put the fee and the reports in the budget too; our guide to planning permission for courts and pitches sets them out.
How can we help with your bid?
Alex Winser arranges the survey and an itemised written quote, with VAT on its own line, that you can attach to your application. Play and Sport Surfaces is a WeDo Property Services service; we price and deliver the work, and you write and submit the bid.
FAQs
Will a grant cover the whole project?
Almost never for a new court or pitch. The largest amounts in the table are a small share of Sport England’s build costs.
Can PE and sport premium pay for a new climbing frame?
No. The guidance names fixed playground equipment, such as climbing frames, as capital spending.
Can we apply before we have a quote?
You can, but a costed quote is what funders ask for, and it makes the figure you bid for defensible.
Do your quotes show VAT separately?
Yes. Every price on this site and in our quotes excludes VAT, which appears on its own line.
Do you write grant applications?
No. We supply the survey, the specification and the itemised quote that your application needs.
More buyer guides, on planning, fall heights and surfaces, are listed on our guides page.
Sources
- DfE, PE and sport premium guidance for primary schools, updated 24 Sept 2026
- DfE, Condition improvement fund 2026 to 2027: information for applicants, 2025
- Sport England, Movement Fund, read Oct 2026
- Bath and North East Somerset Council, funding finder: Movement Fund, read Oct 2026
- Football Foundation, Looking for funding, read Oct 2026
- LTA, Quick access loan scheme, read Oct 2026
- North Yorkshire Council, Community Infrastructure Levy and parish councils, read Oct 2026
- Sport England, Facility Cost Guidance Q4 2025, published Feb 2026
- Wickham Parish Council, Recreation Committee document pack, 27 Feb 2025
