The grants are administered through Historic England, as well as the Architectural Heritage Fund and are available for various different projects as described below. In general all of the funds give priority to historic buildings at risk in areas of highest deprivation, and for projects which give most community benefit:
- Heritage Revival Fund
- Heritage at Risk Capital Fund
- Places of Worship Renewal Fund
Heritage Revival Fund
This fund is designed to support communities in taking ownership of and regenerating neglected historic buildings; reimagining them for community uses and creating positive spaces that benefit people. The scheme has been running successfully since April 2025 and has been renewed to provide more grants for projects, to enable communities to take ownership of buildings and change their use to become arts centres, workspaces, affordable housing etc. particularly in deprived town centre locations.
Grants are available throughout the year, and are available for all stages of a project from feasibility studies through development - surveys, design etc and onto capital funds to support conservation, repair and conversion work. The scheme provides opportunities for communities to benefit from heritage buildings, creating capacity for charities, social enterprise groups and communities, as well as saving and bringing back into use historic buildings, which might otherwise be lost.
For more information on eligibility, timescales and how to apply see the Gov.org website
Heritage Revival Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
Heritage at Risk Capital Fund
The fund offers up to £1million for projects which meet one or more of Historic England’s commitments 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
To achieve these aims, the grant can be used for the conservation, repair or conversion of historic buildings; with the objective of protecting and bringing back into use buildings which are currently at risk, creating productive uses for historic buildings for the benefit of disadvantage communities.
Eligible works include:
- Capital works, including repair and preservation
- Project development stages
- Temporary protection of vacant buildings
- Adaptive reuse
Minor repairs and maintenance are NOT eligible unless they meet certain criteria as part of a larger repair project, nor are improvements and alterations again, unless they are an essential part of larger overall project.
To be eligible buildings must be either; Grade I or II* listed; Grade II listed or of significant architectural or historic interest and in a Conservation area; a scheduled monument; a park or garden listed at grade I or II*. Projects which fall outside these criteria will be considered only if they provide considerable public benefit.
The fund has specific application windows, one of which is opening later this year. An Expression of Interest (EOI) is the first step required and the project needs to be sufficiently developed to give enough information of need etc. For more information, please visit the Historic England webpage.
Places of Worship Renewal Fund
Historic England are also administering this fund and applications will again be assessed against Historic England’s priorities as listed above.
The fund is open to active places of Worship of any denomination, with priority given to those with the greatest need and which will give the most benefit to communities. Grants are available in different brackets to ensure projects of different sizes are supported:
- Small (£10,000-50,000)
- Medium (£50,001-350,000)
- Large (350,001-£1,000,000)
The grants support urgent and essential repairs and improvements to listed buildings, and can be used for capital projects, and in some cases minor repair works. The aim is that this funding will safeguard historic places of worship and keep them in use, recognising their importance as community spaces; support deprived areas, and reduce the need for ongoing long term repairs.
As above there are specific application windows and an EOI is required as a first step. The Historic England website gives more information.
Many church, community groups, and private individuals have asked Jonathan Rhind Architects to assist with grant and funding applications, and we have over forty years’ experience in unlocking funding for heritage projects. Just a few of our recent grant funded projects include, Hartland Abbey; St Margaret’s Church, Northam; Dartmoor National Park Historic Farm Building Repairs. If you would like to discuss a project that you think might be eligible for one of the above funds, please get in touch, and we can advise on next steps.