Running a Grant Scheme

Develop a timeline for your grant scheme

To develop realistic timeline estimates you need to think through all the steps involved.

In the example above, the timeline estimates that it will take 6 months to get the building owner to submit a well thought out and costed application for grant funding.

It allows a realistic amount of time to make sure that this property owner has a real chance of completing a grant application. There will be a similar timeline for each building in the scheme. Recheck progress against the timeline periodically in case owners decide they have other priorities.

Discussions with owners 

The first step is to hold informed talks with each potential applicant (owner or tenant). This might involve the project manager and other colleagues, and potentially discussions with architects.

This step is to help owners understand the costs and work involved, the type of work that is eligible (or not) for the grant and the application process. It is all part of checking that they are ready to buy into the process.

Use this planning stage to clarify any implications for your project timeline, so find out:

• Does the owner have match funding already in place?
• Might the work need planning or listed building consents?
• Are there complex ownership issues that could cause delays? For example, shopping arcades with a lot of individual owners involved
• Or is there a time limitation on when the owners are able to do the work?
• What about big pinch points in the calendar, like December and August, and the end of March?

Build flexibility and clear deadlines into your timeline

• Schedule in specific review points for each property to monitor any issues. These can serve as moments to review whether the project is still viable or whether to reallocate resources elsewhere
• Give owners clear deadlines to respond to and bring forward reserves from your list of priority projects if owners cannot meet your deadlines

Outcomes from those initial conversations will inform the next step, developing the works needed for an acceptable scheme and getting ready to submit a grant application.

Build decision making into your timeline

It is useful to outline where decisions are made to inform the timeline for your grants scheme.

This is an example of a decision-making process for managing third party grant applications, but can be adapted to suit your scheme. You should be clear who is responsible for which actions and decisions.

In this example, the project management team carries out the actions, from inviting applications through to payment. But the decision to approve and award the grant is made by the steering group or board.

Preparing a grant application form

When designing an application form, consider the information you need to gather from building owners and tenants, including:

• Details of the applicant and building
  If the applicant is a tenant, rather than the property owner, you need to make sure they have the authority to carry out work to the property. Commercial tenants will usually have a ‘repairing lease’ which makes them responsible for repairs to the property. For types of works not covered in the lease, agreement will be needed from the owner that the tenant can make a grant application.
• Specification of work that will be done
  You will need a schedule of work and photographs. For more complex work or where detail is needed, you will also require drawings, for example details of joinery work or alterations.
• Breakdown of all costs involved
  A priced version of the specification / schedule of work, with the work that you have agreed is eligible for grant clearly identified.
  Be sure to clarify whether the applicant can reclaim VAT on the works.

You can also use the application form to gather other important information such as:

• Evidence that tenders have been carried out according to relevant procurement regulations. Read Historic England's advice on Procurement Using Public Funding.
• Whether any required statutory consents are in place, or agreements from owners in the case of tenants applying for grant. This will help to build a realistic timetable.

Assessing applications

Once you have the required information from applicants, work through each application systematically.

It is a good idea to create a simple assessment template to work through each application and standardise the way you making recommendations to your decision makers.

Remember to keep this information, along with the information provided by grant applicants, in a clear audit trail so you can demonstrate how decisions were made.

Grant agreements

Once your decision makers, such as the programme’s steering group or board, have approved grants to go ahead, your organisation will need to sign up the applicants to the grant terms and conditions.

This is usually done by sending a grant offer letter to successful applicants with a grant agreement to sign. This agreement will be legally binding, so get legal advice and approval of the agreement wording.

Some suggestions of what you might include in the grant agreement are:

• The total grant amount, and what happens if the cost of works changes, additional work is undertaken or delays occur
• The schedule of works specifying all works to be undertaken, and clearly identifying which pieces of work are eligible and ineligible for the grant
• Procurement regulations: when you are using public funding, for example funding provided by Historic England, your grantees will have to undertake procurement in accordance with the public contract regulations and demonstrate value for money. Read our advice on Procurement Using Public Funding.
• Works insurance: the details of any insurance cover that the grant applicant must maintain on the property, works and materials
• Payment dates and VAT: when grant payments will be made, for example if they are in advance or in arrears, and whether the costs of irrecoverable VAT are included in the grant award
• General conditions of the grant offer, such as:
  • access for your staff to the building to complete inspections
  • compliance with statutory consent requirements
  • where relevant, that professionals appointed have specialist conservation expertise
• Repayment of grant: any instances where your organisation would reclaim the grant from the recipient, such as breaking the terms and conditions, or relating to the owner selling the property shortly after completing the works
• Time limits: deadlines by which the grant applicant needs to accept the offer, when works must have started, completed, and final accounts and payment certificates received

If the funding for your grants scheme ultimately comes from another funding body, check with them for any terms and conditions you need to reflect in your grant agreements.

Case studies

Explore these successful grant scheme projects run by our partners: