1 Overview
Please note the CARS programme is now closed.
Following a recent review of our CARS programme, we have developed a new Heritage & Place Programme which is launching on 30 March 2022. For more information, please read the programme overview and contact us at grants@hes.scot if you have any questions or would like to register your interest.
Overview
Under the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) programme we can offer grant of up to £2 million to support cohesive heritage-focused community and economic growth projects within Conservation Areas across Scotland.
We expect CARS to deliver a combination of larger building repair projects, small third-party grant schemes providing funding for repairs to properties in private ownership, activities which promote community engagement with the local heritage and training for professionals in traditional building skills, all of which will contribute to sustainable economic and community development within the Conservation Area.
The CARS funding programme has been in operation since 2007 with over £40m awarded to date. See details of all our CARS funding awards to date.
As this is a devolved funding programme, there is no CARS funding directly available from HES for individual properties located within a Conservation Area. If you are the owner of an historic structure/building that is in need of repair and located within a Conservation Area then please check to see whether it is one of our currently funded CARS or, if not, then please refer to our own Historic Environment Repair Grants to see if you may be eligible.
2 Eligibility
The following organisations may apply for CARS funding
- Local Authorities
- National Park Authorities
- Not-for-profit organisations
Applicant organisations must be formally constituted with a clear governance and financial structure and have their own bank account.
We can fund projects which are:
- located within a designated Conservation Area
- informed by Conservation Accredited Professional Advisors
- yet to begin
- timetabled for five-years or less
- achieving our CARS priority outcomes
3 Criteria for Awarding Grants
CARS bids are assessed in competition with each other. We will assess how well your project achieves the priority outcomes for the CARS programme (below), how well planned and deliverable it is and how you plan to sustain the scheme benefits in the longer term.
We will consider the overall value for money the scheme offers against all of these factors.as well as the grant intervention level requested.
Outcomes
The four CARS priority grants outcomes are listed below, under their relevant corporate plan themes. We expect you to achieve these outcomes through your CARS programme.
Understand
Priority outcome: Communities are empowered to take an active role in understanding and enhancing the historic environment
Protect
Priority outcome: Historic sites and properties will be conserved, regenerated and made sustainable and economic activity will be increased
Value
Priority outcome: People and communities enjoy the historic environment
Lead
Priority outcome: Economic activity undertaken in and around the Historic Environment will be increased
Eligible costs
We can fund:
- historic fabric repairs for single property projects
- third-party grants schemes for multiple properties
- community engagement activities
- training for professional craftspeople and construction workers – minimum of 5% of grant request
- public realm conservation and restoration – maximum of 20% of grant request
- new staff costs – we do not fund existing staff costs
We are unlikely to fund CARS schemes where the main focus is a single building or an active place of worship.
We do not fund:
- demolition
- repair or installation of services
- extension
- alterations
- internal works
Useful links:
Successful bids will be required to sign a CARS grant contract with HES.
Grants for projects which relate to repair work must be carried out in accordance with conservation best practice. You can find more about what we consider best practice in our Advisory Standards of Conservation and Repair
We ask you to evaluate your project – here are a couple of examples of recently completed CARS evaluation reports.
Gorebridge CARS Evaluation Report [PDF, 7.02MB]
Selkirk CARS Final Report and Evaluation [PDF, 1.42MB]
Selkirk CARS Final Education and Training Report [PDF, 1.70MB]
Please make use of the HES Inform Guides which provide specialist conservation information for historic fabric repairs.
4 How to apply
Please note the CARS programme is now closed.
Following a recent review of our CARS programme, we have developed a new Heritage & Place Programme which is launching on 30 March 2022. For more information, please read the programme overview and contact us at grants@hes.scot if you have any questions or would like to register your interest.
5 CARS Funding Awards
The CARS funding programme has been in operation since 2007 with just over £53m of Scottish Government/HES funding awarded to 73 schemes throughout Scotland, contributing towards £234m of investment by local authorities, other funders including NLHF and property owners in these areas.
From 43 completed schemes, the following outputs are some of what the CARS funding has helped to support and deliver.
- 1,026 building repair projects ranging from shopfront improvements to larger scale projects to bring vacant historic buildings back into use
- 79,288m2 of historic public realm repairs or reinstatement
- 43,976m2 of vacant space brought back into use
- The creation of 273 new businesses
- The creation of 605 new jobs
Round 1: 2007-2012 (completed)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant Award | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Aberdeenshire | Banff | £191,250 | £2,558,438 |
| Aberdeenshire | Peterhead | £650,000 | £3,164,000 |
| Argyll and Bute | Campbeltown | £382,500 | £4,832,646 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Whithorn | £400,000 | £850,051 |
| East Ayrshire | Kilmarnock | £811,170 | £15,355,354 |
| Edinburgh | Leith | £468,285 | £3,257,702 |
| Falkirk | Bo’ness | £434,000 | £2,979,426 |
| Fife | Dunfermline | £850,000 | £2,815,000 |
| Highland | Wick | £1,500,000 | £5,670,715 |
| Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park | Killin | £62,500 | £320,073 |
| North Lanarkshire | Kilsyth | £325,000 | £1,676,000 |
| South Lanarkshire | Leadhills | £400,000 | £1,243,408 |
| Western Isles | Stornoway | £300,000 | £1,780,000 |
Round 2: 2008-2013 (completed)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant Award | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Aberdeen City | The Green | £350,000 | £1,391,251 |
| Angus | Brechin | £370,750 | £4,267,477 |
| East Ayrshire | Kilmarnock – John Finnie/Bank Street | £253,980 | £3,103,050 |
| Fife | Dysart | £395,000 | £1,940,000 |
| Midlothian | Dalkeith | £402,638 | £3,600,000 |
| Perth and Kinross | Coupar Angus | £192,000 | £3,700,000 |
Round 3: 2009-2014 (completed)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant Award | Total Cost of Scheme |
| East Ayrshire | Cumnock | £977,306 | £4,114,471 |
| East Lothian | Haddington | £935,313 | £1,739,273 |
| Fife | Kirkcaldy | £538,917 | £6,123,000 |
| Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park | Callander | £250,000 | £1,214,970 |
| North Lanarkshire | Cumbernauld Village | £379,000 | £921,100 |
| Orkney Islands | Stromness | £901,583 | £6,545,433 |
| Perth and Kinross | Blair Atholl | £306,574 | £1,062,451 |
| Renfrewshire | Paisley | £738,800 | £3,394,500 |
| Scottish Borders | Kelso | £307,500 | £4,400,000 |
Round 4: 2011-2016 (completed)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant Award | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Aberdeenshire | Portsoy | £700,000 | £2,924,829 |
| Argyll and Bute | Rothesay | £499,933 | £2,652,704 |
| Fife | Anstruther | £500,000 | £3,335,000 |
| Highland | Dingwall | £420,000 | £1,336,335 |
| North Ayrshire | Irvine | £500,000 | £887,699 |
| South Ayrshire | Ayr | £498,244 | £2,419,847 |
| Moray | Keith | £355,500 | £1,500,000 |
Round 5: 2013-2018 (current)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Aberdeenshire | Banff | £500,000 | £3,728,250 |
| Angus | Kirriemuir | £679,000 | £1,923,849 |
| Argyll and Bute | Inveraray | £1,009,887 | £3,016,374 |
| East Ayrshire | Galston | £750,000 | £1,735,633 |
| Falkirk | Falkirk | £1,630,725 | £5,084,644 |
| Fife | Cupar | £1,019,000 | £7,817,271 |
| Glasgow City | Parkhead Cross | £1,000,000 | £6,733,401 |
| Midlothian | Gorebridge | £734,651 | £1,736,532 |
| Moray | Elgin | £750,000 | £3,760,797 |
| North Ayrshire | Kilbirnie | £500,000 | £1,035,000 |
| Orkney Islands | Kirkwall | £1,200,000 | £6,453,534 |
| Scottish Borders | Selkirk | £865,000 | £2,155,981 |
Round 6: 2015-2020 (current)
Round 7: 2017-2022 (current)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Aberdeen City | Union Street, Aberdeen | £1,177,104 | £3,516,965 |
| Argyll and Bute | Dunoon | £1,002,348 | £1,889,330 |
| Argyll and Bute | Rothesay | £500,000 | £3,201,459 |
| East Lothian | Cockenzie | £600,290 | £1,225,726 |
| Scottish Borders | Jedburgh | £866,500 | £2,447,000 |
| Midlothian | Penicuik | £980,000 | £3,727,929 |
| Orkney Islands | North Isles | £654,328 | £4,040,906 |
| South Ayrshire | Maybole | £1,289,607 | £4,463,604 |
Round 8: 2019-2025 (current)
| Local Authority | Conservation Area | CARS Grant Award | Total Cost of Scheme |
| Argyll and Bute | Lochgilphead | £969,700 | £1,606,096 |
| Argyll and Bute | Helensburgh | £1,240,000 | £2,268,927 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Dumfries | £762,101 | £1,870,077 |
| East Ayrshire | Mauchline | £1,119,800 | £2,234,099 |
| East Lothian | Dunbar | £1,113,949 | £2,588,527 |
| Fife | Inverkeithing | £1,007,700 | £3,772,839 |
| Scottish Borders | Hawick | £1,314,800 | £5,502,029 |
| Stirling | Stirling | £1,386,525 | £3,047,290 |
6 Contact
You can contact us with your questions about the Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme.
Email: grants@hes.scot
Grants Team
Historic Environment Scotland
Longmore House
Salisbury Place
Edinburgh
EH9 1SH