Heritage at Risk Capital Fund

Your project must match one or more of Historic England's priorities, which are to:

• Help more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from the historic environment
• Use heritage to improve civic pride, prosperity, and wellbeing
• Achieve a positive change and sustainable future for historic places, including buildings, landscapes, archaeological sites, and marine assets
• Ensure heritage plays an important role in the fight to limit and manage the effects of climate change

The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund's objectives are to:

1. Repair and safeguard heritage at risk across England 
2. Remove or significantly reduce risk and deterioration for priority heritage assets
3. Bring historic buildings back into safe and productive use
4. Target projects in England’s most disadvantaged communities

• Your project must be in England
• Applicants must have legal responsibility for the repair of the property, which includes those who:
  • Own the property outright
  • Hold a full repairing lease which has at least 21 years to run
  • Demonstrate that they have an agreement to acquire the property in question either outright or by a full repairing lease of at least 21 years

• Your project must have strong benefits for the local community.
• Priority will be given to projects in areas of England with the highest level of deprivation and need for investment. Prioritsation will focus on:
  • Projects that fall within areas of Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1-3 AND fall within areas identified through the Community Needs Index (CNI)
  • Projects that fall within areas of IMD 1-3 OR fall within areas identified through the Community Needs Index (CNI) 
  • For projects that do not fall within the above defined areas of deprivation, we will ​prioritise​​ ​those projects which have the greatest ​​financial need and urgency of repair​​ ​​and provide the greatest community benefit. 
• Your project must be related to the types of buildings and/or assets we will consider, which are:
  • A building or asset listed at Grade I or II*
  • A building listed at Grade II, or an undesignated asset of significant historic or architectural interest, located within a Conservation Area
  • A scheduled monument
  • A park or garden registered at Grade I or II*
  • Parks and gardens registered at Grade II, and Grade II buildings and historic assets which are of high community value outside a Conservation Area will be considered where the project delivers considerable public benefit 
  • Private dwellings, places of worship and commercial buildings are only exceptionally considered
  • Eligible historic sites owned by public bodies such as Local Authorities, universities, NHS institutions, free schools, academies, are eligible provided they are not part of their operational estate

The National Heritage List for England is the official record of all listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens. To check whether your building or site is listed, visit Search The List.

Your local authority's planning department will be able to advise you on whether your property is in a Conservation Area.

• Your project must involve the type of repair, conservation and conversion activities we will consider, which are:
  • Capital works, including repair and preservation. Costs covered may include professional fees, non-recoverable VAT, and insurance
  • Project development. Projects that require preparatory work to ensure the capital works are appropriate, may include the cost of that development work in the application. This may include research, investigations, testing, and monitoring (such as energy audits), as well as condition surveys, management plans, reuse studies, feasibility assessments, material procurement, case studies, and accessibility audits. Please note: standalone project development activities are not eligible, and must be part of a broader programme of capital works.
  • Temporary protection of vacant buildings. Includes securing empty buildings through urgent repairs, temporary protective and security measures, fire prevention, and environmental upkeep (for example, controlling vegetation and wildlife). Light-touch modifications for short-term adaptive reuse may also be considered.
  • Adaptive reuse. Support for modifications that help eligible assets remain functional, including adaptations for reuse and/or accessibility. This includes works to first fit out to enable new uses of a building.
  • Minor repairs and maintenance. Minor repairs and maintenance are not eligible unless they:
    • are an essential part of a larger HARCF repair project that supports long-term resilience and usability of the asset
    • occur in the same location/building
    • are cost-effective when done alongside the larger repair project
  • Improvements and alterations. Improvements and alterations are not eligible (other than works included under 'Adaptive reuse' above) unless works that enhance resilience and usability are:
    • an essential part of a larger overall project to enable reuse
    • cost-effective when done alongside the larger repair project
    • going to increase the future resilience and useability of the asset
    • part of a whole-building approach as outlined in the Historic England published technical guidance