GrantRadar

Surrey Historic Buildings Trust

Small Grants Scheme

Grants of up to £5,000 towards restoring or conserving significant architectural features of historic buildings in Surrey. The award is typically 10% of a project's cost, so this is a top-up rather than a main funder, and the project itself must cost more than £5,000 including VAT. Open to private owners as well as charities, community groups and public bodies. The money is only paid once the work is finished, and a site visit is usually required both before an offer is made and after completion.

Apply on the funder’s site
You could get
Up to £5,000
no fixed round
Deadline
Rolling
apply any time
Effort
Moderate
full application with documents

Who can apply

  • Private owners, charities, community groups and public bodies are all eligible
  • The building must be of historic interest and is usually either listed nationally or locally, or within a Conservation Area — the Trust's notes require it to be a heritage asset
  • The application must demonstrate a clear public benefit in line with Charity Commission guidance, since the Trust is itself a charity
  • The owner must not have purchased the property within the last three years, and must not have altered a protected building without the relevant planning authority's consent
  • Applicants are responsible for obtaining any statutory consent needed, such as listed building consent or a diocesan faculty, and no grant is paid for work done without them
  • Where a property is sold or redeveloped within five years of receiving a grant, the Trust may ask for repayment on a tapering basis, reducing by a fifth each completed year

What it funds

  • Restoration and conservation of significant architectural features where the cost including VAT is over £5,000
  • The Trust's examples are window glazing bars, brickwork, masonry, specialist roofing materials, exterior doors, garden features, paving, gates, railings, church table tombs and monuments
  • The grants page describes the same work as structural repairs and weatherproofing, conservation of historic features and materials, feasibility studies or specialist reports, and adaptive reuse where heritage is respected
  • More than one grant may be applied for on the same building in a year where clearly defined separate operations are being undertaken

What it will not fund

  • Reroofing in non-specialist roofing materials such as clay tiles or lead
  • Work by local authorities, unless to structures in closed burial grounds
  • Work required as a condition of a planning permission, lease or similar legal agreement
  • Works by an individual who has altered a protected building without the relevant planning authority's consent, and works to make good unauthorised works
  • Works where there is not a clear public benefit
  • Works to buildings, structures or sites which are not heritage assets
  • Works which have already been carried out
  • Works proposed within three years of the property being purchased by the owner
  • Projects costing £5,000 or less including VAT

How to apply

  1. Contact the Trust to discuss a potential application before applying
  2. Download the Small Grants Scheme application form, which also contains the notes for applicants and the terms and conditions
  3. Obtain two detailed estimates clearly identifying the proposed works — a single estimate may be acceptable for specialised work
  4. Complete the application form, digitally or in block capitals by hand, and submit it, preferably digitally
  5. The Trust generally carries out a site visit to the architectural feature before making a grant offer
  6. Obtain any statutory consents yourself, such as listed building consent or a diocesan faculty
  7. Carry out the work following the specification in the application — any deviation must be agreed first or the grant cannot be paid
  8. Claim the grant after completion; the Trust visits again and only pays once the work is done

any grant not claimed within three years of the original application lapses automatically unless an extension is agreed

Have ready

  • Two detailed estimates identifying the proposed works, or one for specialised work
  • Photographs of the building — the application cannot be considered without them
  • Plans, where available

applicants must agree to the Trust taking 'before' and 'after' photographs and to publicity about the work

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