Spring 2026 (S106)

Capital funding opportunities available now

The information on this page is relevant to you if you can answer 'yes' to the following questions:

has your setting achieved and maintained exceptional, strong or expected standards in all 7 Ofsted grading areas or are you confident you will achieve this in your next Ofsted inspection?
are you thinking of expanding your provision to create new childcare places or do you have a building or a piece of land that you could use to create an entirely new provision?

Essex Early Years and Childcare has secured funding from local housing developers across the county to create new early years and childcare places, this is known as Section 106 funding (S106).

This funding must be used to create buildings and fixed assets. This could include:

refurbishment of existing space
installation of an additional toilet or partition wall
ramps to improve access for children and parents with disabilities
a project to expand the learning potential of your outside area

You should note the following:

proposed building projects must comply with building regulations

S106 funding cannot be used for ongoing revenue costs such as staffing or rent

For more information, download the Early Years Capital Funding Guidance document (Word, 560KB). This also contains a gallery of completed projects which may inspire you.

Our team share your passion for supporting families and are able to talk through your ideas for potential projects. They are able to support you with the submission of your funding application.

The following tables list the capital funding opportunities and their project scopes that are available across Essex for Spring 2026. You should read the relevant project scope document carefully, checking the criteria to ensure that your project would be eligible, and that your postcode falls within the required area:

North Essex

District	Project name	Requirements	Funding available	Project scope documents
Colchester	Wivenhoe	0-5 years, located within a 3 mile radius of the development (CO7 9SF)	£177,320	Wivenhoe
Tendring	Beaumont and Thorpe	0-4 years, located within Beaumont and Thorpe ward	£137,468	Beaumont and Thorpe
	Hamford	0-4 years, located within the Hamford ward	£432,564	Hamford
	Holland and Kirby	0-4 years, located within the Holland and Kirby ward	£382,866	Holland and Kirby
	Harwich West	0-4 years, located within Harwich West ward	£223,319	Harwich West
	Manningtree, Mistley and Little Bentley	0-5 years, to expand a facility within Manningtree, Mistley, Little Bentley and Tendring wards	£317,788	Manningtree, Mistley and Little Bentley
	St. Mary's	0-4 years, located within St. Mary's ward	£333,174	St. Mary's
	Thorrington, Frating, Elmstead and Great Bentley	0-4 years, located within Thorrington, Frating, Elmstead and Great Bentley wards	£45,016	Thorrington, Frating, Elmstead and Great Bentley
	Walton	0-5 years located within Walton ward	£322,042	Walton

South Essex

District	Project name	Requirements	Funding available	Project scope documents
Brentwood	South Weald	0-19 years, located within South Weald ward or within 3 miles of development (CM14 5LT)	£79,395	South Weald
Castle Point	Canvey Island West	0-5 years, located within Canvey Island West ward	£81,517	Canvey Island West
Rochford	Hawkwell East	0-5 years, located within Hawkwell East ward or to best serve the development (SS4 1QL)	£671,992	Hawkwell East
	Rochford	0-19 years, to best serve the development (SS4 1NY) and within Hullbridge ward	£702,720	Rochford

Mid Essex

District	Project name	Requirements	Funding available	Project scope documents
Braintree	Hedingham	0-12 years, located within a 3 mile radius of CO9 3PS	£10,901	Hedingham
	Bocking and Blackwater	0-5 years, located within Bocking and Blackwater ward	£67,234	Bocking and Blackwater
	Halstead	0-4 years, located within St. Andrew's ward	£373,506	Halstead
	Kelvedon and Feering	0-4 years, located within Kelvedon and Feering ward	£509,451	Kelvedon and Feering
	Yeldham	0-4 years, located within the Yeldham ward	£87,946	Yeldham
Chelmsford	Chelmsford City	0-5 years, located within Chelmsford City	£13,390	Chelmsford City

West Essex

District	Project name	Requirements	Funding available	Project scope documents
Epping Forest	Epping and Nazeing	0-5 years, located within Nazeing ward	£158,285	Epping and Nazeing
	Shelley	0-5 years, located within Shelley ward	£170,153	Shelley
Uttlesford	Elsenham	0-11 years, located to best serve the development (CM22 6DQ and CM22 6LJ)	£97,923	Elsenham
	Little Easton	0-19 years, located to best serve the development (CM6 2JE)	£12,677	Little Easton
	Felsted	0-5 years, located within a 3 mile radius of the development (CM6 3UG)	£34,608	Felsted

Application timeline

Launch	8 January 2026
Last date for BMC/CCDL support	19 March 2026
Closing date	2 April 2026
Quality visits	13 April to 8 May 2026
Site visits to assess build project	13 April to 8 May 2026
Moderation Panel	14 May 2026
Early Years Resource Panel	21 May 2026

How to get support preparing your application

Business Management Consultants (BMCs)

email: BMC@essex.gov.uk

Children's Community Development Leads (CCDLs)

email: CCDL@essex.gov.uk

How to apply

Section 106 agreements are legally biding and therefore not open to negotiation.

Note the following important information before making an application:

your provision must be within the specified locality
you must be delivering services within the identified age range

Guidance notes are included throughout the application form. You should refer to these notes when completing the form to avoid your application being declined due to incorrect or insufficient information being provided.

Download the EYCC Capital funding application form Spring 2026 (Word, 142KB)

Submit completed applications to ey.capitalgrants@essex.gov.uk. Contact us if you have any queries or need any support.