What is the difference between a grant and a loan?
A grant does not have to be repaid if you keep the conditions. A loan does, with interest. Start Up Loans, bank lending and most British Business Bank products are loans. Calling a loan a grant on an application is a mistake. If you cannot repay a loan, do not take one in order to use it as match funding unless you have worked out the monthly cost.
Also asked as: grant vs loan · Start Up Loan vs grant · is a bounce back loan a grant
| Grant | Loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Repayment | Not if you keep the rules | Yes, on a schedule |
| Who provides it | A funder, for a defined project | A lender |
| If you are refused | You have spent time, not repayments | You do not have the debt |
Can a loan count as match funding?
On some schemes, yes, because it is money you are putting in. You still owe the lender if the grant is refused or clawed back.
Does Find Grants arrange loans?
No. The catalogue is grants and a few household schemes. It does not broker lending.
Related
128 answers on this site. Find Grants checks which UK grants a business can get from a postcode or a place. Looking is free. If you want the application written, the fee is £99 for that one application, shown before you pay. Find Grants does not take a percentage of the grant, does not file the form, and is not part of GOV.UK. Confirm every scheme on the funder's own site.