Historic Structures Fund 2023
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 our 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.
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 labour-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 our heritage properties to enable them to withstand the effects of climate change.
Applications in respect of refurbishment or reuse projects involving heritage structures, and where a clear residential benefit is demonstrated, are particularly welcomed. (Such projects must be advanced through the planning process as necessary.)
The Historic Structures Fund 2023 will be structured as follows:
Stream 1 will offer grants from €15,000 up to €50,000 and is aimed at essential repairs and smaller capital works for the refurbishment and conservation of heritage structures.
Stream 1, Historic Shopfronts sub-stream – To incentivise the conservation of historic shopfronts, each Local Authority is invited to submit an additional application under Stream 1 for eligible essential repairs and small capital works for the refurbishment and conservation of historic shop facades, windows, signage and other associated details to safeguard them and keep them in use. Local Authorities are also invited to make an additional application for Irish-language shopfronts.
Stream 2 will offer a small number of grants from €50,000 up to €200,000 for larger enhancement, refurbishment or reuse projects involving heritage structures, where:
A clear community or public benefit has been demonstrated, orA 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.
Vernacular Structures Stream - In the context of the forthcoming strategy for built vernacular, the pilot stream for vernacular structures introduced in 2021 will be retained, with increased funding of €150,000. The purpose of the stream is to support conservation repairs and small capital works to vernacular structures that are not listed in local authority Records of Protected Structures or otherwise legally protected. Such structures may be located within an Architectural Conservation. All local authorities can apply for funding for specific projects of between €5,000 and €10,000 for eligible projects.
Qualifying structures 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.
Full details of the scheme, the application form, guidance notes and FAQ's are available below.
Make your application
Application forms can be emailed to conservation@kildarecoco.ie or posted to ; HSF 2023, Planning Department, Kildare County Council, Aras Chill Dara, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Your appliction must include a completed application form, a written quotation for the specific works from a suitably qualified contractor and appropriate method statement. Failure to provide this information may jeopardise your application assessment.
Closing Date
The closing date for receipt of applications is 4pm , 31st January 2023
Enquiries
Enquiries can be made to conservation@kildarecoco.ie or 045 980200 Conservation Section