Heritage Revival Fund Announced

In exciting new planning permission news, the government has announced the £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund.

This money is being made available in addition to the £15 million Heritage at Risk Capital Fund.

This is excellent news for owners of listed buildings in England, as it opens up another avenue of available funding for restoration projects that will ensure people across the country can continue to enjoy our prized historic buildings.

Key Points of The Heritage Revival Fund

The Heritage Revival Fund hopes to offer a new way to help owners revitalise old buildings.

The government hopes that by providing this money, it will:

• Bring into focus the community ownership of heritage assets.
• Provide a mechanism to protect, enhance and secure the future of English heritage assets.
• Fund possible innovation and new usage on underutilised properties.
• Support local community groups to reinforce the importance of sustaining heritage assets for future use.

Who Can Apply for a Heritage Revival Fund Grant?

If you’re a not-for-private-profit organisation or a lower-tier local government body, you might be eligible for funding to take ownership of or develop community spaces, particularly those with a religious history. Eligible organisations include:

• Unincorporated charities (Project Viability Grants only)
• Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), Charitable Companies, Community Benefit Societies, Not-for-private-profit Companies, Community Interest Companies (CICs), and Co-operatives.
• Parish and Town Councils
• Organisations looking to take ownership of a place of worship for mixed-use, secular purposes.

Key Points for Places of Worship

Funding is available for organisations aiming to acquire places of worship, provided that the space will transition to a mixed-use model, with secular activities forming the majority.

Specifically, ongoing religious worship must account for less than half of the proposed use of the space.

Initially, funding will focus on governance and legal costs related to the transfer of ownership or the establishment of a new independent organisation to manage the property.

This provides a unique opportunity to repurpose and revitalise historic buildings for community benefit, while still respecting their heritage.

Deprived areas and town centres will be prioritised

The fund guidelines state that funding will be prioritised for historic buildings in the top 30% most deprived areas according to the indices of deprivation. This is a government tool that ranks deprivation by postcode.

So a listed building in a deprived city/town centre will be most viable for the funding.

How do you apply for funding?

In order to apply for a grant from the Heritage Revival Fund, you must first submit an expression of interest form.

The expression of interest form gathers information about your organisation, your contact details and basic details about the location of the historic asset you are seeking funding for.

Along with the amount of funding you are seeking.

What happens next?

Your expression of interest will be assessed by The Architectural Heritage Fund. If the decision is made that your project is a good fit for the funding, you will be invited to submit a full application.

This will be sent through to you by email.

You then have 3 months to submit your full application.

Implications for planning permission

It is important to note that any change of use for a building, especially a place of worship, will likely require planning permission.

Organisations should factor this into their plans and ensure they engage with the local planning authority early in the process. Changes in use from solely religious to a mixed secular/religious space will almost certainly trigger a need for a planning application.

If you require assistance regarding this topic, please do not hesitate to get in touch.