Vouchers

B4RN and Project Gigabit

Project Gigabit is the UK government programme to enable hard-to-reach communities to access fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband. The govenment remains committed to reaching 99% of homes and businesses across the UK by 2032.

B4RN is a registered supplier on the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), which is part of Project Gigabit. This means we can claim funding to help cover the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses where gigabit broadband is not already available or planned. Vouchers cannot be used for monthly service charges, only installation costs.

Eligible homes and businesses can access up to £4,500 per property towards the cost of installing a gigabit-capable broadband connection.

B4RN works with the government to ensure funding reaches rural communities, making gigabit broadband more accessible and more affordable.

Vouchers and GBVS Projects

To access GBVS voucher funding, B4RN identifies groups of two properties or more in need of a broadband upgrade to create a voucher project proposal it submits to the government for approval. Vouchers are issued to eligible properties and paid to B4RN from government once they are connected.

Once a voucher project is approved:

1. B4RN installs the service

2. You confirm your service is live — only then is the voucher released, and B4RN receives payment

Please respond promptly when asked to confirm your broadband service is connected. If a connection enabled by voucher funding isn’t confirmed, the funding is lost. Once the maximum funding for a project is used, B4RN continues connecting other properties without vouchers, ensuring the network keeps expanding.

How the process works

You request service on the B4RN website

Request a service via Get B4RN. This registers your interest and gives us permission to apply for a voucher for your property.

We apply for your voucher

We request a voucher from the UK government on your behalf as the broadband supplier. We normally wait to do this until B4RN is just about to start building your project, because a voucher, once issued, is only valid for 12 months. 

We email you letting you know that your voucher has been requested. You'll get a voucher request validation email from the government - BDUK (building.digital.uk@notifications.service.gov.uk) with the subject 'Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme - action required'.

You must click the link in that email within 28 days to validate the voucher. If you do not click the link and confirm you have requested a voucher there may be delays to installing your service.

Please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t see the email. 

We build and connect your property

We go ahead and build the connection, install the service, and get you live before we receive the voucher funding.

You receive a second BDUK email when your service is live.
This is the voucher claim validation email, and this final step is critical.

If you do not click the link in the final BDUK email within 28 days, we lose the voucher funding, even though you’ve already been connected and are using the service.

This puts real funding at risk, not just for your connection, but for others in your community too. That’s why we may ask for help from local champions and groups to follow up and make sure this last step isn’t missed.

BDUK Beneficiary Validation Guide

Residential vs Business Vouchers

Homes and businesses must meet the following criteria to be considered for a voucher project:

• existing available broadband download speeds are less than 1Gbps

• a gigabit-capable network is unlikely to be built to the area commercially in the near future

• there is no government-funded contract planned or in place to improve the network

• the premises are not vacant/unoccupied or derelict and have not been built in the last two years

To qualify for a business voucher, you must:

• Be actively trading from the address

• Provide evidence (e.g., utility bill or business bank statement showing the business name and address)

• Sole traders may need to show a UTR number from HMRC or VAT registration

Working from home for an employer does not qualify for a business voucher.

If you need to change your voucher type, just email vouchers@b4rn.org.uk — you don’t need to reapply.

B4RN will also waive the connection fee for businesses.

Business Voucher Guide

Why some properties aren’t eligible

There are a few common reasons why a property might not qualify for a voucher:

• Every address has a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). If your property isn’t correctly classified as “occupied/in use,” it may be excluded.

• If your property has already benefited from government broadband investment or is currently being delivered by another supplier.

• If official data shows speeds above 1000 Mbps are already available.

We can sometimes challenge these decisions. If you think your property has been wrongly excluded, please contact us via vouchers@b4rn.org.uk.

We may be able to:

• Confirm with the local council whether public funding has been used before.

• Help you gather evidence from your current provider showing that high-speed service isn’t available.

• Assist with resolving UPRN classification problems.

Why B4RN waits for voucher approval before connecting

We can’t apply for vouchers retrospectively. That means if we connect someone before their voucher is issued and they don’t complete the final validation, we lose the funding permanently.

We don’t connect homes until the voucher is:

• Issued (for residential properties), or

• Fully validated (for business properties, including review of evidence by UK government)

This ensures every connection is backed by the funding that makes connecting rural communities like yours possible.

Other useful details

• Vouchers are not transferable
  If you move house, the voucher can’t be passed to the new owner. It must be cancelled and re-applied for in the new resident’s name.

• No VAT on voucher values
  B4RN customers don’t pay VAT on the voucher-funded portion of the build.

• Landlords and multiple properties
  In most cases, one voucher per person or business is allowed. But if you’re a landlord of vacant or short-term let properties, you may still apply — even if you already have another request.

• Schools and churches
  Most schools and churches are not eligible. Only small, independent churches may qualify.

• Voucher project plan
  Before vouchers can be requested, B4RN submits a full voucher project plan to the UK government. This includes a funding cap — once that cap is reached, we continue to connect remaining properties without vouchers, but no more UK government funding will be available for that project.

For more information on the scheme, visit the Government's gigabit broadband voucher scheme page.

Your action engaging with the GBVS helps unlock public funding that makes this whole effort possible. Every validated voucher supports the connection of homes, businesses, farms, and entire rural communities that were previously left behind.

This scheme is helping build a digital backbone for rural Britain — and your participation brings us all closer to that goal.

If you have any questions, or need help with the voucher process, just email us at vouchers@b4rn.org.uk we’re here to help.