Grants available from Dundee Historic Environment Trust
City centre building in need of repair?
Community heritage project in need of funding?
Maybe we can help.
Dundee Historic Environment Trust provides grants towards the cost of historic building repairs and community heritage activities. We would love to receive your enquiry if it meets at least one of the Historic Environment Scotland Grants Priorities:
- Increase understanding of and engagement with Scotland’s historic environment
- Enhance communities’ use of the historic environment in place making
- Strengthen the resilience of Scotland’s historic environment
- Use the historic environment as a catalyst for climate action
- Increase the quality and availability of historic environment skills
- Increase economic benefits from the historic environment in a sustainable and inclusive way
Check the eligibility of your property or project using the criteria below and contact us today to find out if we can help.
Who can apply?
- Individual owners
- Owners’ associations and factors
- Community groups, voluntary organisations, places of worship and charities
- Not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises
It is unlikely that a single householder will be able to deliver the social, environmental and economic outcomes that we require from grant funded building repair projects. Investment is instead focused on larger comprehensive repair schemes involving commercial activity, community benefit and/or multiple occupancy buildings such as tenements.
What sort of projects are eligible?
To be eligible for a historic building repair grant, buildings should be of traditional construction (usually, but not always, built pre-1919).
There is no automatic entitlement to a grant because a project falls in a conservation area or is a listed building.
We have a focus on Dundee city centre
Projects which contribute towards improving energy efficiency and adapting to climate change are particularly welcome, however the project must still include grant eligible works.
Building repair projects must involve a Conservation Accredited professional adviser (usually either an architect or surveyor) to prepare tender documents. Professional advisers can complete the application, manage the project on site, certify work for payment and sign off the project at the end. You can find lists of conservation accredited professionals on both the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) websites.
Eligible Work
- Essential structural repairs
- Comprehensive roof repairs
- Repair of chimneys
- Repair or replacement of rainwater gutters
- Repair of stonework
- Repair of historic boundary walls or garden structures
- Repair of external joinery
- Repair of historic external metalwork
- Public realm repairs
- Agreed project-related skills training initiatives
- Agreed professional fees
- Project development costs for major regeneration schemes
Ineligible Works
- Alterations and additions
- Projects that have already started
- Use of modern materials such as GRP or cement mortars
- Artificial and substitute materials or techniques
- Chemical treatments
- Stone cleaning
- Interior repairs
- Routine maintenance such as gutter cleaning, fixing slipped slates or localised repointing – maintenance advice available here
- Replacement of historic windows
Community Heritage Grants
The Community Heritage Grants Scheme helps local groups and organisations bring Dundee’s history to life. Grants support projects that encourage people to learn about, enjoy, and care for the city’s historic environment. If you would like an informal chat before making your application please contact our Community Engagement Advisor, Mylene Herd, at mylene@dhet.org.
What sort of projects can we fund?
We will prioritise projects that:
- Improve public access to and participation in Dundee’s heritage
- Support education, skills, and lifelong learning
- Celebrate diverse histories and communities
- Demonstrate clear community benefit and inclusivity
Projects should meet at least one of the six Historic Environment Scotland grants priorities
Who can apply?
- Community groups, voluntary organisations and charities
- Not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises
- Schools, colleges and education providers
- Heritage organisations based in Dundee
Applicants must be formally constituted and have a bank account in the organisation’s name
What we can fund
If your project is eligible you may be able to receive grant funding towards:
- Events and engagement
- Formal learning
- Informal learning
- Consultant or professional fees
- Materials and equipment
- Staffing
- Overheads
What we cannot fund
- Acquisitions
- Work resulting from an event that should be insurable.
- Recoverable VAT or VAT grant-aided by other funders
- Projects without public benefit
- Any work that has already started before you apply for the grant
- General operational/core running costs
- Organisations who are insolvent or in financial difficulty
- Projects where funding has been awarded by HES directly, or indirectly through one of its grant funding partners, such as the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF)
Other Sources of Funding
Applicants may also wish to investigate other sources of potential funding both locally and nationally. There are a small number of funders who specialise in heritage projects, in addition to trusts which have an interest in the conservation of the built heritage.
Dundee City Council External Funding:
Contact diane.milne@dundeecity.gov.uk 01382 434653
Assistance to help Dundee groups and organisations access external funding:
DCC External Funding
Dundee City Council also offers discretionary grants and loans to private householders and landlords under the Scheme of Assistance:
Improvement and repair scheme private households
SCARF is a social enterprise company and delivers energy efficiency advice and services, on behalf of Home Energy Scotland, to local authority areas in north east Scotland, including that served by Dundee City Council. Home Energy Scotland grants assist a variety of energy saving measures addressing fuel poverty:
SCARF grants and funding
Historic Environment Scotland runs a range of grant programmes including an historic environment repair grant scheme to promote and protect the historic environment. Funding cannot be awarded by DHET where HES funding has been awarded (and vice versa):
Historic Environment Scotland
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Heritage Fund Scotland operates a number of grants schemes supporting people and communities to explore, conserve and celebrate heritage.
Architectural Heritage Fund – Scotland: The Architectural Heritage Fund Scotland offers various grant programmes which includes project viability grants, project development grants and a tailored support fund.
Alternative sources of funding may also be found on the Heritage Funding Directory, a free online guide managed by the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Heritage Alliance and on the online grant funding directory complied by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Funding Scotland
Churches are now eligible to apply for funding from DHET. They can alternatively seek funding directly from Historic Environment Scotland and from schemes such as the National Churches Trust and the The Benefact Trust. The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme can provide funding which covers the VAT incurred when making repairs to listed buildings that are in use as places of worship.
