• Finance source: private entities; local authority own funds
• Funded project phase: plan, design, build
• Typical project size:
• Match funding: Fund and project dependant
• Speed of accessing finance: dependent on terms of the fund and the ability of the local authority to comply with the funds requirements

A revolving fund (or recycling fund) is a dedicated fund set up by a government or quasi-governmental entity for specified purposes with the concept that the funds borrowed may be repaid and subsequently re-borrowed for qualifying purposes. They can help secure long-term finance for investment by providing the local authority with flexible funding. A revolving facility is also widely used in the commercial sector – the best example being a business overdraft.

Any commercial finance facility will have an expiry or renewal date as well as minimum conditions which must be satisfied before the money can be borrowed. Most also require some sort of regular ‘clean up’ whereby the borrowing is repaid – to ensure that a short-term facility does not end up becoming a long-term one that is never repaid.

✅ Once implemented, a revolving fund model can be self-sustaining, with the repayments, revenues and potentially savings used to finance additional projects. A revolving fund can build market capacity without a fiscal year limitation that can create unrealistic programme timescales and milestones.

❌ Recovering operating costs in early years can be difficult and could make repayment periods long (typically 5–8 years or even more). The fund may vary from year to year depending on financial sources and the return of investments.

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