Heritage & Place Programme

1 Overview

The Heritage & Place Programme (H&PP) is an area-based funding programme that aims to contribute to the development of vibrant and sustainable places in Scotland, through community-led regeneration of the historic environment. It supports the development and delivery of heritage focused schemes within conservation areas, or alternatively distinctive heritage areas with local authority recognition.

Applications can be accepted from local authorities, national park authorities and suitably experienced not-for-profit organisations based in Scotland. Individual property owners are not eligible to apply directly to this programme.

The second application round for the H&PP opened on 31 May 2023 for Expressions of Interest to be submitted by 2 October 2023. Please see the 'How to Apply' tab for more information about application deadlines and decision timeframes.

Find out more about the programme criteria

The H&PP supports schemes that will be delivering a combination of activities, including the repair and re-use of historic environment assets, training to strengthen local traditional skills, and building capacity within communities to value and look after the historic environment in the longer term.

Find out more about the types of projects and activities we can fund

The programme consists of a two-stage application process with an initial Historic Environment Scotland (HES) match funded Development Phase. Find out more about our application process and timeframes

View our full programme guidance along with a number of other H&PP resources

You may also be interested to read about funding that is available from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for area based projects. We have aligned our application deadlines for the H&PP with those of the NLHF to help applicants who are seeking funding from both organisations. However, please note that if you are seeking funding from both organisations for your area based scheme then you must submit a separate EOI to each of us to consider. More information on submitting an EOI to the NLHF can be found here.

As part our launch of the H&PP last year, we jointly hosted a couple of online information sessions with the NLHF about the H&PP and about the NLHF Grants for Heritage Programme to support area-based schemes. A copy of the presentations from these sessions as well as a list of Q&A’s are available to view on the Programme Resources page.

2 Programme criteria

The Heritage & Place Programme (H&PP) is open to applications from local authorities, national park authorities and not-for-profit organisations. Where the lead applicant is a not-for-profit organisation, they will need to demonstrate that they have a track-record of successfully managing a similar type of work and level of funding and will need to enter into a Joint Delivery Agreement with the relevant local authority or national park authority to develop and deliver the scheme. Individual property owners are not eligible to apply directly to this programme.

Successful Heritage & Place schemes will be based upon the formation of Area Partnerships of local, regional, and national interests with a shared vision for the place, and community participation will be integral to the design and delivery of the scheme.

To qualify for the H&PP, you will also need to demonstrate that your scheme meets the following criteria:

It will take place within a defined area of the historic environment with heritage significance which has local authority recognition
Its objectives fit within the local authority’s strategic framework for Place and Regeneration, with participation and support from the local community
There is demonstrable evidence provided to show the need for repair and regeneration in the defined area of the historic environment that will focus on its repair and resilience, traditional skills training and materials, community heritage engagement and future management and maintenance
There has been demand identified from within the local community for projects and activities to be undertaken as part of the scheme
A financial need for HES funding has been demonstrated and there is also the ability to attract local authority funding and other match funding
It will deliver against the HES Grants Priorities

3 What we can fund

For the Development Phase, we can help to support the costs of appointing staff and consultants to carry out development activities. This will include undertaking local skills and materials audits and may also include the delivery of community engagement activities and historic asset condition surveys. It is our expectation that the Development Phase will not exceed 12 months.

For the Delivery Phase, we can help to support the cost of a range of projects and activities identified as priorities in response to the specific needs of the area and of the local community. A delivery scheme is likely to consist of:

Repair and resilience capital projects which may involve the reuse of historic environment assets. These will be facilitated through the awarding of third-party grants to the asset owners or long-term leaseholders, and we will only provide funding support for repairs using appropriate techniques and materials
Traditional skills training and materials activities which target local needs
Community heritage activities
A management and maintenance strategy to include activities which will help to build capacity within communities to value and look after the historic environment for the longer term

It is our expectation that the Delivery Phase will not exceed five years. On completion, you will need to ensure that there are processes in place to deliver ongoing monitoring of the grant aided works and the management and maintenance strategy for the scheme area.

Whilst there is no set grant amount that can be applied for under each phase, for the Development Phase we will typically be able to provide funding support of up to 50% of the costs. For the Delivery Phase, grants from HES will typically range between £750k and £1.5m, depending on the size of the scheme and match funding. To maximise your funding opportunities, we would encourage you to enquire about the area-based funding that is available under the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Grants for Heritage.

4 How to apply

The second application round for the H&PP is now open with Expressions of Interest to be submitted by 2 October 2023.

If your EOI is approved by HES, you will be invited to submit a Development Phase application. All Development Phase applications will be assessed as a batch through a competitive process, and successful applicants will have up to 12 months to undertake a Development Phase and submit their Delivery Phase application. For more information about how we take decisions, please see 'How Our Funding Works'.

Please see the table below for more information on the application deadlines and decision timeframes:

Stage	Deadline	Decision
Expressions of Interest (EOI)	2 October 2023	No later than 6 weeks after EOI deadline
Development Phase Application	15 February 2024	4 months
Delivery Phase application	To be submitted within 12 months from the date you start your Development Phase	4 months

For successful applicants to our first application round for the H&PP, please see below the timescales for the delivery phase application and the decision timeframe for these.

Stage	Deadline	Decision

Delivery Phase application	To be submitted within 12 months from the date you start your Development Phase	4 months

All applications must be completed and submitted through our new online Grants Management System. If you have any issues with completing, or submitting this, then please contact us at grants@hes.scot.

We recommend that you read the Programme Guidance in full before submitting your Development Phase and Delivery Phase applications. View guidance along with other supporting templates, case studies and contracts

5 Programme resources

In this section, you will find a number of documents that will help you to develop your scheme and complete your funding application. We advise that you read through this information before applying.

Guidance documents:

Templates:

Grant Contracts:

H&PP Development Phase Contract
H&PP Delivery Phase Contract
H&PP Local Authority Grant Terms and Conditions (coming soon)
H&PP Third-party Grant Contract Template, up to £50k (coming soon)
H&PP Third-party Grant Contract Template (over £50k) (coming soon)

Claiming and Reporting:

HES Grants Data Report (for information only)

Case Studies:

Joint Delivery Agreement, Cupar CARS (Fife Council/Fife Historic Buildings Trust)
Partnership Working, Union Street CARS and Banff CARS (Aberdeen City Council/Aberdeen City Heritage Trust & Aberdeenshire Council/North East Scotland Preservation Trust)
Grant Intervention Rates, Kelso CARS (Scottish Borders Council)
Match Funding, Maybole CARS (South Ayrshire Council)
Priority Projects, Portsoy CARS (Aberdeenshire Council)
Small Grants, Selkirk CARS (Scottish Borders Council)
Shopfront Repair/Reinstatement, Falkirk CARS (Falkirk Council)
Public Realm, Cupar CARS (Fife Council)
Framework Professional Adviser, Millport CARS (North Ayrshire Council)

Other information:

6 Contact us

If you have any questions or would like further support in making an application for funding, please contact us at grants@hes.scot, and one of our grants team will be happy to discuss your proposals with you.