The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) has announced that, as part of its ongoing work to increase the levels of social investment supporting the heritage sector, a new partnership fund will be launched in 2019: ‘The Heritage Impact Fund’ (HIF).
AHF writes:
The HIF will provide £7m in social investment funding over a minimum of five years, for the first time bringing together funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, the AHF and other investors. The HIF will be managed by the AHF and will offer tailored finance for charities, social enterprises and community businesses across the UK seeking to acquire, reuse or redevelop buildings which are of historic or architectural importance – these may be buildings which are listed, in a conservation area, or may be of special significance to the community. It will also provide assistance to those projects which need additional advice and guidance to support sustainable business change, transition or expansion and will be particularly targeted at applicants who are completing a capital project or are looking to build upon or scale-up their existing enterprise. As well as delivering projects that support the sustainability of historic buildings, the HIF will support organisations that are seeking to deliver demonstrable local economic and community impact; advice from the AHF will assist borrowers with assessing their impact.
We will be formally launching the HIF in London in mid-February 2019 and in Scotland in March 2019, when full details will be made available. However, the HIF will be open for expressions of interest from as early as January 2019, so if you are interested in learning more in the meantime then please contact a member of the Investment Team on 020 7925 0199 or email us; full contact details are available on our website.
