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Built heritage grants for 2027: BHIS, HSF, and the thatched stream

Applications are open for the Built Heritage Investment Scheme, Historic Structures Fund, and Historic Thatched Buildings stream 2027 — eligibility, grant bands, and key deadlines.

Historic building fabric and conservation works

Applications are now open for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s 2027 built heritage grants. Three related streams are in play: the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS), the Historic Structures Fund (HSF), and the dedicated Historic Thatched Buildings (HTB) stream within BHIS. All three are administered through local authorities. If an award is made, notification is due by January 2027. Works are then carried out during 2027 to a timeline set by the local authority in its notification letter, but the operative date is earlier than year end: the final recoupment claim must reach the Department by 5 November 2027, and funding unclaimed by that date is forfeit.

The schemes are competitive, the documentation is specific, and the local closing dates are not uniform. This note sets out the verified position on eligibility, grant bands and deadlines. It is not a forecast of funding.

What the three streams are for

BHIS is the principal small-to-medium conservation grant. It supports the repair and conservation of structures protected under the Planning and Development Acts, and the employment of skilled conservation professionals, craftspeople and tradespersons. Grants run from €2,500 to €50,000. The scheme also incorporates streams for vernacular buildings and historic shopfronts, and a ‘micro’ grant stream for routine maintenance and minor repairs below the €2,500 floor. Vernacular structures that are neither protected nor within an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) sit under a lower cap of €30,000.

HSF is the larger-scale fund. For 2027 it offers grants from €50,000 to €200,000 for enhancement, refurbishment or reuse projects involving heritage structures, where a clear community or public benefit — or a clear residential benefit — has been demonstrated. Residential-benefit projects must be advanced through the planning process as necessary. Each local authority may shortlist three projects in private ownership and three in public ownership for the Department. Funding may be phased over two years. Owners seeking smaller-scale works, or where there is no community or public benefit, are directed to BHIS.

HTB sits inside BHIS as a dedicated stream for historic thatched buildings. Eligibility is broader than under the main stream: the circular extends to any historic thatched structure, domestic or commercial. There is no requirement that the building be a protected structure or stand within an ACA. Primary qualifying works are thatching to the roof and related works necessary to complete it, such as chimney repairs. The circular sets a maximum of €20,000, up to 80% of the cost of the works.

Only one grant can be availed of per structure. An application under BHIS does not preclude a later application under HSF for the same structure — or a separate HTB application — but if more than one is awarded, the applicant must choose which to take.

Deadlines are local, with a national backstop

Applications go to the relevant local authority, not to the Department. Local authorities set their own cut-offs, which can fall earlier than the national backstop, and several publish a clock time as well as a date. Late or incomplete applications are typically not accepted.

The national backstop for BHIS and HTB is 30 October 2026. For HSF, private applicants must lodge with their local authority by the date that authority sets, no later than 27 November 2026.

Examples of earlier or timed local cut-offs already published:

  • Tipperary County Council: BHIS and HTB by Tuesday 27 October 2026; HSF by Friday 27 November 2026.
  • Dublin City Council: BHIS by 4pm on Friday 30 October 2026; HSF by 4pm on Friday 27 November 2026.
  • Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: BHIS by 5pm on Friday 30 October 2026. For HSF the Council’s own pages currently conflict — its news notice gives 5pm on Friday 27 November 2026; its conservation page gives 4pm on the same date. Work to the earlier time.

Owners outside those areas should take the date and time from their own local authority’s conservation grants page, not from the national circular alone.

Method statements

A Method Statement is required with the application. For HSF, the absence of a suitably comprehensive statement is a frequent cause of projects failing at assessment. The HSF guidance is explicit: the statement must describe the condition of the structure and how the conservation or repair works will be carried out; it should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the works; and it must not exceed ten A4 pages.

BHIS likewise treats Method Statements as a primary basis for assessing the efficacy and quality of the proposed works. Conservation works under both schemes must be designed, specified and overseen by appropriately qualified and experienced building conservation professionals.

What this is not

These are competitive capital schemes with limited allocations. The circulars themselves note that most BHIS awards come in below €30,000 and that applicants do not tend to receive the full amount requested. Under BHIS, the total value of all public funding should not exceed 80% of project cost; the matching expenditure cannot be satisfied by voluntary work (benefit-in-kind), by the local authority’s own funds or contributions, or by other exchequer sources. HSF is typically funded at 50% of eligible costs, with a higher percentage available only in exceptional circumstances, subject to a maximum of 80%. None of that is a forecast of what any given structure will receive.

An application that is eligible, complete and lodged on time is the part of the process that sits with the owner and their advisers. The award, the works, and recoupment sit with the local authority and the Department.

If you are considering a 2027 application and want to talk through eligibility and what the lodgement pack would need to contain for your building, we would be glad to go through it. A companion note sets out how we help with built heritage grant applications.

Sources

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