Heritage at Risk Capital Fund

The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund (HARCF) supports the repair and conservation of historic buildings and sites at risk across England. Following the successful first year of the fund, which saw £15 million invested in projects across England, up to £60 million remains available for allocation over the next four years, to 2030.

Priority will be given to projects in areas of England with the highest level of deprivation and need for investment, and those that bring most community benefit.

- Funding organisation: Historic England - Location: England - Award: £100,000 to £1 million per award; total scheme size £60 million - Opening date: 2026-05-20 - Closing date: 2030-04-01

Summary

The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund is four year, £60 million fund to support the repair and conservation of historic buildings and sites at risk across England. It follows on from the successful £15 million of funding awarded through the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund in 2025/26.

Under this fund, we can give grants for the conservation, repair and conversion of listed buildings of all grades, historic buildings in conservation areas, registered parks and gardens and scheduled monuments.

Priority will be given to projects in areas of England with the highest level of deprivation and need for investment, and those that bring most community benefit.

The fund is competitive, and not all applications will be successful. The full requirements of the fund are set out on our website, which provides details on the priorities, criteria, and objectives that all applications will be assessed against.

Eligibility

Under this scheme we can give grants for the conservation, repair and conversion of listed buildings of all grades, historic buildings in conservation areas, registered parks and gardens and scheduled monuments.

Applicants must have legal responsibility for the repair of the property. Which includes those who:

- Own the property outright. - Hold a full repairing lease which has at least 21 years to run. - Demonstrate that they have an agreement to acquire the property in question either outright or by a full repairing lease of at least 21 years.

Your project must be related to the types of buildings and/ or assets we will consider, which are:

a building or asset listed at grade I or II

- a building listed at grade II, or undesignated asset of significant historic or architectural interest, located within a Conservation Area. - a scheduled monument - a park or garden registered at grade I or II - Grade II buildings, historic assets and parks and gardens which are of high community value outside a Conservation Area will be considered where the project delivers considerable public benefit. - Publicly owned designated assets. Eligible historic sites owned by public bodies such as Local Authorities, universities, NHS institutions, free schools, academies, and provided they are not part of their operational estate. - Private dwellings, places of worship and commercial buildings are only exceptionally considered.

Objectives

The HAR Capital Fund’s objectives are to:

- Repair and safeguard heritage at risk across England - Remove or significantly reduce risk and deterioration for priority heritage assets - Bring historic buildings back into safe and productive use - Target projects in England's most disadvantaged communities

Dates

The deadline for submitting EOIs for the first round of grants is Sunday 7th June 2026. Further rounds of grants will follow in August 2026 and in future years.

How to apply

For this fund we ask applicants to complete an expression of interest (EOI). If your EOI is successful, you will be invited to make a full application.

To submit an EOI, you will need to fill in our online form.

You will also need to refer to the HARCF requirements on our website. In the EOI form we will ask you to briefly describe how your project meets these.

You need to provide enough information at EOI stage to enable Historic England to consider the need for your project. If your project is not yet sufficiently developed you may wish to delay your EOI and apply in a later round.

Apply / more information: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/heritage-at-risk-capital-fund/