Submit Applications for Historic Structure Fund (Ireland)

The primary focus of the Historic Structures Fund is to assist the conservation and enhancement of historic structures and buildings for the broader benefit of communities and the public.

While the primary responsibility to care for and maintain a protected structure rests with the owner, the Historic Structures Fund will invest essential capital in their valuable built heritage and help the owners and custodians of historic structures to safeguard them into the future for the benefit of communities and the public.

Aims

• The core aims of this fund are to:
  • enable larger scale conservation works to be carried out on heritage structures which are deemed to be significant and in need of urgent support;
  • encourage the regeneration and reuse of heritage properties and to help to secure the preservation of protected structures and/or culturally significant assets;
  • support the investment of private capital in labor-intensive projects to conserve historic structures in public and private ownership for community use;
  • support employment in the conservation and construction industries;
  • build resilience in their heritage properties to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.

Funding Information

• The Historic Structures Fund will offer grants from €50,000 up to €200,000 only, and focus on larger enhancement, refurbishment or reuse projects involving heritage structures, where:
  • A clear community or public benefit has been demonstrated, or
  • A clear residential benefit has been demonstrated (such projects must be advanced through the planning process as necessary)
• A grant of over €200,000 may be awarded in exceptional circumstances where a case is made by the applicant in relation to the significance of the project and the works proposed.

Eligible Projects

• Eligible projects will be as follows:
  • projects proposed by local authorities on foot of applications from private applicants who are the owners or custodians of historic structures
  • projects proposed by a Local Authority for works to historic structures in public ownership, where a clear heritage focus and community or public benefit has been demonstrated.

Ineligible Projects

• The following will not be eligible for funding:
  • Works which have commenced prior to the grant award
  • New build or extensions
  • Works not in accordance with sound conservation methodology and practice
  • Projects or elements of projects where works have already commenced prior to grant award
  • Purchase of lands or buildings
  • Feasibility studies
  • Conservation plans or other non-capital expenditure, except where such is directly ancillary to capital works being funded under HSF.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Historic Structures Fund provides capital funding for works to qualifying structures which include the following:
  • Protected Structures: Structures in the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) of each Local Authority;
  • Structures eligible for or proposed for inclusion in the RPS but not yet formally approved for inclusion. Such structures must meet the criteria for inclusion in the RPS by the Local Authority, i.e. must be of special interest from an architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical point of view;
  • Structures or works within Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs), or within the amenity of a National Monument, where exceptional circumstances apply.

Selection Criteria

• Eligible applications will be assessed for selection under the following criteria:
  • Significance of the structure
  • Efficacy of the grant in achieving the aims of the Historic Structures Fund
  • Quality of the methodology and technical merit of the works proposed
  • Contribution of the proposed works to keeping the structure in use, or bringing it back into use
  • Broader public or community benefit of the project.

For more information, visit Wicklow County Council.