Grants

Grants To Help With Improving Your House

Heritage grants are given by the Heritage Foundation to help preserve the character and style of Garden City properties, by encouraging owners to use superior materials and designs that match the originals.

Availability of Grants

Grants are available to help meet the costs of a variety of projects, including the replacement or refurbishment of:

• Windows
• Doors
• Roofs
• Chimneys
• Some internal works such as balustrades and built-in furniture, if it can be proved that they were original features
• New shop fronts
• Greening of front gardens associated with the removal of excessive hard standings
• Reinstatement of front hedges and/or picket fencing
• Reinstatement of selected standard trees

Grants are offered to help with the cost of making sure the materials and design of the works are as close to the original as possible.

Amount of Grants payable

The actual amount of grant payable in each instance is worked out by awarding up to a certain percentage of the project cost, as follows: -The grant given will be discretionary up to the maximum level.

*For example, the use of traditional materials such as timber and natural clay tiles will attract a high percentage grant. Some areas of the town have been identified as Priority Improvement Areas. In such areas, the works covered by grants are wider and the grant available larger. Please ask us for more details.

Application

The owner of the property or their architect/agent should make the application for a grant. Grants cannot be offered or given for work already started. The application needs to be made at least 12 weeks before the works are proposed to take place since a Board, which normally meets once a month, considers the grants. Please note that applications will not be considered where the work has already commenced. We will also consider the plan approval under the Scheme of Management or Leasehold covenants at the same time as the grant application.

The application should be made by letter to the Estates Management Unit at the Heritage Foundation with:

• Drawings of the work to be carried out, such as joinery details of the new windows, including details of the materials to be used
• Two quotations and specifications from different contractors for the cost of the works

The Process

When we receive the application for a grant, with all the necessary information, we will acknowledge it. We then carry out a site visit to check that the works match the original building and that they have not been started. If we need any more information then, we will ask for it.Once we have all the information, the Heritage Foundation's Board of Management considers the application. After the Boards meeting we will either send you:

• A letter refusing a grant with reasons for the decision.
• A letter offering a grant for all or some of the works provided they are completed within a set timescale. We will ask you to confirm that you would still like the grant and accept the conditions of the offer.

Once the works are completed you need to send us a copy of the receipted invoice for the works. We then carry out a site visit to check that the works have been done to a satisfactory standard and meet all the conditions of the offer. If there is anything else that needs doing we will let you know. When everything is satisfactorily finished we pay the grant directly to the property owner.

Questions?

If you have any further questions we will be pleased to help.

Telephone - 01462 476000 Fax - 01462 476050 Email - info@lgchf.com