The Heritage Lottery Fund is making a significant contribution towards conserving and opening up our historic sites and buildings for everyone to learn about and enjoy.  We will consider applications which will benefit historic buildings and monuments, archaeology, memorials and statues, and historic places including parks, cemeteries, conservation areas and battlefields.  All applications will need to explain why the historic feature is important and who it is important to.  We will need to know whether it has any official recognition, whether it is a Listed Building, a Scheduled Monument, whether it is in a Conservation Area, or is on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens or Battlefields. We can also fund historic sites and buildings which are not officially protected in some way, but you will need to explain its heritage value.

We give grants for projects which can help conserve (protect and manage) historic buildings and places and which can help people learn more about the historic environment that surrounds them.  We also fund projects which focus on participation and all projects must have a learning element to them.  We are particularly keen to help projects which offer something extra, such as providing an innovative re-use for a redundant historic building, or which include an element of skills training in traditional crafts for example.

Conversely, we do not give grants for work or services that are part of the central business activities or responsibility of an organisation, such as routine repairs or the maintenance of public buildings and spaces; or meeting legal responsibilities such as under the Disability Discrimination Act; or stand-alone works to meet building regulations or planning permission requirements.

We can provide grants for new buildings or extensions so long as they form part of a wider project that meets our aims. Projects for new monuments or memorials and visitor facilities such as cafes will not be supported unless they include significant proposals to increase learning and understanding about the heritage.
 
We have already awarded over £3.14 billion to over 7400 projects involving historic buildings and sites, £1.5 billion of which has been awarded for the conservation of more than 12,000 historic buildings and monuments throughout the UK.