Built Heritage Investment Scheme and Historic Structures Fund 2022

Malcolm Noonan TD, Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, has launched the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and Historic Structures Fund (HSF) for 2022.

The BHIS and HSF support the owners of protected structures to meet their obligations to care for their properties and, with €8million in funding across both schemes, they represent a continued and significant boost to the conservation and protection of Ireland’s rich architectural heritage.

The BHIS and HSF are administered by the local authorities and will assist hundreds of small-scale, labour-intensive projects, as well as some larger-scale projects, aimed at securing our historic built environment for our benefit today and as a legacy for future generations.  The projects will also give significant support to jobs in conservation, construction and traditional skills, providing a boost to local economies in these challenging times.  The projects can unlock the potential to reuse heritage building stock for residential purposes, which will be key to Housing for All, the Government’s plan to create a sustainable housing system into the future.

The two streams for vernacular heritage and historic shopfronts, successfully piloted in 2021, have been incorporated into the HSF for 2022.  The maintenance stream introduced to the BHIS in 2020 has also been retained.

Over 550 projects were awarded funding under the BHIS and HSF in 2021, ranging from small-scale repairs to joinery to large-scale repairs of roofs, and owners are now being invited to make an application for funding under the BHIS and HSF for 2022.  Details of the schemes, and how to make an application through the local authority, are available below:

– Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2022 Circular and Application Form

– Historic Structures Fund 2022 Circular and Application Form

? Silver Bridge, Palmerstown, County Dublin, which was awarded €140,000 in funding under the Historic Structures Fund Partnership Stream.  A box truss bridge erected by Edward Cecil Guinness (1847-1927) to carry services, water pipes and later electricity lines, from a mill race turbine to Farmleigh House.  The bridge was also used as a shortcut by workers on the Farmleigh estate who lived on the Palmerstown side of the River Liffey.  Credit:  Una O’Connor