Built Fabric Grants

Heritage Action Zone Built Fabric Grants

The Built Fabric grants programme is designed to secure improvements to key built fabric elements like shopfronts and historic features of the public realm. Grants could be used to bring derelict buildings (or parts of buildings) into use, restore heritage details or shopfronts, or make improvements to buildings or structures that will improve the look of the conservation area

This grant programme will be back from July 2021. We are currently working to make the application process clearer and quicker. In the meantime, please email if you would like apply. This is a grant process and can take up to 3 months from application to award.

Match funding required

Property owners (or those responsible for covering costs of proposed works) will be required to fund some of the works, with the remainder being funded from the Heritage Action Zone. A maximum of 50% grant funding is available.

Decisions will be made by our board on advice from an independent panel.

Decision making criteria

• Eligibility (for example location, nature of proposed works, relevant documents supplied, compliance with procurement requirements, etc)
• Proportion of match funding for works
• Maximum impact on heritage, appearance and character of the HAZ area
• Impact on other HAZ objectives – appeal to visitors, economic benefits, community benefits
• Links and benefits to other HAZ projects
• Sustainability of repairs or relevant works

Works that can be funded

We place considerable value on retaining historic fabric. Any work funded through the High Streets HAZ Programme should normally be carried out using traditional methods and, where possible, materials appropriate to the history and condition of the building or area

A number of small repairs to elements of the historic building fabric are often more appropriate than complete renewal. An example of this would be piecing-in of new elements in a historic window frame.

When replacement is necessary, it should normally be done on a like-for-like basis.

Keeping a record

Grant recipients may be required to carry out appropriate recording during the work and on completion of the work. This is to capture evidence that would otherwise be lost in the process of repair and to record the nature and extent of what has been done for future reference.

Eligible and non-eligible work can be undertaken in the same project, but the costs must be identified separately and made explicit in agreed schedules of works and tender documents

Eligible works

Temporary building works

If there is an unavoidable delay before full repairs are carried out, temporary measures, including work to protect a structure from collapse, damage or deterioration, such as propping and shoring, temporary weather-proofing, or putting up protective structures could secure the building while its structure is being surveyed or a repair specification is being drawn up.

Roofs

Repairing roof structures, together with renewing or substantially repairing roof coverings; repairing roof features such as parapet and valley gutters, dormer windows and skylights, chimney-stacks and pots, cupolas and balustrading.

Leadwork

Renewing roof leadwork, if it is no longer serviceable, or using lead welding to extend the life of lead that is of historic interest. It may be necessary to redesign the substrate (the structure just below the lead) to keep to current good practice. The visual and physical implications of this need to be considered carefully, however, before any changes are made.

To avoid the risk of underside lead corrosion, lead roofing should be carried out between April and September and under a temporary roof.

Permanent access to carry out maintenance

If difficult access has prevented proper maintenance in the past, installing hatches, handrails or cables, fixed ladders or crawl-boards to improve access for maintenance and inspection may qualify for a grant, as part of a wider project.

Rainwater disposal

The extensive repair or replacement of rainwater disposal systems, both above and below ground.

Lead and cast iron should be replaced on a like-for-like basis, although in certain cases where theft, vandalism or maintenance access is exceptionally problematic, there may be a case for using appropriate substitute materials.

Digging trenches for drains and soakaways in archaeologically sensitive areas should be supervised by suitably qualified archaeologists, and a grant can be offered towards such costs.

Installing proprietary electric heating tapes in gutters and rainwater heads where access is difficult and weather conditions are particularly severe, or where especially valuable building fabric or contents may be at risk from the guttering and rainwater disposal systems failing.

Providing overflows and weirs to rainwater disposal systems so that, in case of blockage, water is shed away from the building.

Snowboards in gutters tend to decay and cause further problems, and these cannot be funded.

Walls

Necessary repairs to external walls, including work to their structure, surfaces, decorative elements on the wall surface, and wall-coverings or claddings.

Windows and doors

Repairing or replacing elements set in walls, such as panels, windows and doors, including their frames, glazing, ironmongery and other fittings.

External features

Repairing or replacing, where necessary, existing external features, such as balconies, canopies, bargeboards and shutters, where these contribute to the special architectural or historic interest of the building.

Damp

Measures to manage rising or penetrating damp, if this is directly damaging the fabric or contents of a historic building, including providing surface water drainage, lowering external ground levels (where this would not be archaeologically or structurally damaging), and improved ventilation, if this is essential. Old buildings need to breathe, and keeping vapourpermeable traditional plaster is preferable to replastering in relatively impermeable cement-based plasters.

Providing a damp-proof course simply because the existing structure was built without one does not qualify for a grant. Experience has shown that providing damp-proof courses and membranes in historic structures has often transferred damp problems to other areas of the building.

Decoration

Decoration does not qualify for a grant unless it is necessary to make good after decorations have been disturbed as part of other work that has been funded by the partnership.

Cleaning

Cleaning can be  grant funded only if there is so much dirt on a structure that it must be removed in order to assess the need for and scope of repairs, or if chemicals in the surface build-up are damaging the fabric. Cleaning brickwork or stonework for these reasons is rarely necessary. Unless appropriate methods are chosen and the work is carried out with extreme care, by specialist conservation contractors under adequate supervision, it can cause longterm damage. It may also detract from, rather than add to, the appearance of a building. Cleaning should always be followed by any necessary conservation of the cleaned surfaces.

Pigeon deterrents

Non-electric physical barriers to prevent a build-up of damaging pigeon droppings, where these can be provided in a visually acceptable way and without using chemicals.

Reinstating architectural features

The reinstatement of architectural details must be carried out only if the building is otherwise in good repair (or will be repaired as part of the Programme). The objective is to reinstate (in whole or part) elements of the exterior fabric of buildings that are essential to their design and character and that contribute to the character of the building and the high street, provided the reinstatement is to the original size, pattern, detail and material. Reinstatement can include decorative ironwork, such as balconies, canopies and railings; ornamental masonry, including architectural sculpture, stucco and other applied finishes; and details and joinery to historic patterns.

The reinstatement of shop fronts to the original design (based on evidence), or to a design that is appropriate to the period and location, can also be considered

Generally, eligible work relating to special architectural features will form part of a more comprehensive repair proposal, or be included in a specific ‘architectural features’ scheme.

Conversions of buildings

We can support the conversion of buildings from economically unviable to viable uses where it can be demonstrated that there is local demand. It is important that any use is viable not only for the owner but also for the future conservation of the building to reduce the risk of a number of unnecessary harmful changes being made to a building.

Harmful alteration may sometimes be justified in the interests of realising the optimum viable use of a building provided the harm is minimised. If, from a conservation point of view, there is no real difference between alternative economically viable uses, then the choice of use is a decision for the owner, subject to obtaining planning consent.

Other eligible costs:

Grants offered under High Streets Heritage Action Zones Programme will normally represent a fixed financial contribution towards the overall costs of the project, including related costs such as professional fees and VAT.

Where eligible and ineligible works are combined in a single project, a grant will be offered towards the cost of eligible work only.

Repairs over £20,000

Where a grant is offered for repair works costing £20,000 or more in total, a competent professional (a conservation-accredited architect or building surveyor) with relevant specialist conservation knowledge, ability or experience must be employed to analyse the site, plan and specify the work, and inspect and certify the work while it is in progress and after it is completed.

VAT

In general, grants are offered on the expectation that all work is liable to VAT (unless applicants state within their form that they are able to reclaim some or all of the VAT which they will be charged, or that the work will be zero-rated). Grants are only paid towards the VAT you are unable to recover.

Insurance and preliminary costs

Insurance and preliminary costs set out in the contract (scaffolding, hoardings, vehicle access) may be grant funded.

Work NOT eligible for funding under the HAZ Programme

Grants cannot be provided for works that are already underway, for redecoration, maintenance or:

Demolition

The removal of any part of the building does not normally qualify for a grant, though exceptionally a grant may be offered for:

• the careful dismantling of a structure that threatens to damage surrounding historic fabric
• careful dismantling prior to reinstatement
• the removal of later additions of little merit which alter or obscure the original design of the building and where careful dismantling is carried out as part of an agreed scheme of reinstatement

Building services

The free-standing renewal of building services, e.g. new heating systems or rewiring (unless integral to conservative repair or where failure to renew or replace building services systems puts the historic fabric at risk). However the removal of an entire rainwater disposal system may be eligible.

Substitute materials

The use of substitute materials where the original is obtainable, except where the original materials have failed and will continue to fail regularly if they are replaced like-for-like. In the case of lead and copper where there has been a history of theft or there is a high risk of theft we will assess substitute materials on a case-by-case basis.

Conjectural reinstatement

There is a strong presumption against wholly speculative reconstruction or reinstatement of features that have totally disappeared leaving no archaeological traces or photographs or drawings. Exceptionally, cases may arise where the ground floor façade of a building has been totally lost and the present façade detracts from the high street, in which case grant-aid may be given towards a well-informed design that is in keeping with its context.

Maintenance and minor repairs

This is work that we would expect to be carried out on a regular basis to prevent the building from deteriorating, such as the cleaning out of rainwater goods, checking of flashings and roof coverings for slipped slates or tiles, removal of plants, redecoration including cleaning of metalwork and regular repainting of joinery.