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Press release

Opening of funding schemes for built heritage and historic thatched buildings announced

  • Grants of up to €50,000 for the conservation and protection of historic buildings.
  • Funding will provide help to owners in fulfilling the obligations imposed on them by the Planning and Development Acts.
  • Up to €20,000 available under dedicated stream for owners of thatched buildings.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD and Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan have today announced the opening of applications for the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) 2026, including a dedicated funding stream for historic thatched buildings. BHIS supports owners and custodians of historic buildings to maintain and conserve the important structures which form an essential part of Ireland’s cultural landscape.

Every year the owners and occupiers of Ireland’s historic buildings help to preserve the architectural legacy of our towns and countryside by carrying out routine maintenance as well as more significant works to rescue, repair, or upgrade architectural features while contending with the higher costs and more complex requirements of maintaining older buildings.

Administered through the Local Authorities, the BHIS is designed to support these efforts by providing grants of between €2,500 and €50,000 for works to buildings which are protected under the Planning and Development Acts, and to vernacular buildings or historic shopfronts lacking in statutory protection but which remain essential to our architectural heritage. Owners of thatched buildings can also apply for dedicated funding for their heritage structures under the separate thatched buildings stream, though only one grant may be awarded per applicant.

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD, said:

“The Built Heritage Investment Scheme is a vital support to those people who have taken on the responsibility of protecting the architectural evidence of our past ways of life while also introducing new vitality into our historic buildings.


Whether through inheritance, family connection, the desire for a home, or out of a simple love for the history and character of older buildings, owners and occupiers of historically important structures make a daily contribution to the sense of tradition and character present in so many of our communities.


Schemes such as the BHIS therefore help to preserve the record of our shared past while securing the future viability of our historic buildings as homes, workplaces, and community spaces, and I strongly encourage anyone interested in availing of the grants to contact the Architectural Conservation Officer or Heritage Officer in their Local Authority as soon as possible.”

The BHIS is operated by Local Authorities with funding from the National Built Heritage Service (NBHS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The BHIS is complemented by the Historic Structures Fund (HSF), a separate scheme focusing on grants of between €50,000 and €200,000 to assist larger-scale projects. Applications for the HSF will open towards the end of 2025.

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, said:

"I am delighted that my Department continues to offer these supports under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme, which also address modern concerns by enabling the utilisation of our traditional building stock to meet housing needs, revitalise communities, and keep historic properties in use for the families and communities of the future. I look forward to seeing the impacts of this funding in the coming months and years, as we continue to tackle our housing challenge with all the tools at our disposal.”

The closing date for applications to Local Authorities is September 26th 2025.

Successful projects will be announced in January 2026, with a full list to be published on gov.ie.

Further details about the scheme and its eligibility requirements may be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/services/built-heritage-investment-scheme-bhis/

Details about the dedicate stream for thatched buildings may be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/services/historic-thatch-grant/

Further information

The total funding that will be made available under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) for next year will be confirmed in Budget 2026. During 2025, over €8 million was made available for BHIS projects across the country.

Applicants may receive a maximum of €50,000 under the scheme, which must represent no more than 80% of the project’s total cost. For applicants who are successful under the dedicated thatched buildings stream, the maximum award is €20,000.

Since the applicant must therefore provide at least 20% of the project cost from non-state funding, an example applicant in receipt of the full €50,000 would need to provide a minimum €12,500 of their own funding.

In practice, the level of award will be at the discretion of the local authority and most applicants may be approved for less than 80% of their project costs under the scheme.

Buildings/structures eligible for funding under the scheme include:

  • Protected structures (i.e. those on the local authority’s record of protected structures)
  • Proposed protected structures (i.e. buildings the local authority has proposed to add to its list)
  • Structures in Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs are defined by the Local Authority)
  • Vernacular buildings (max grant is €30,000 unless the building is also on the record of protected structures and/or within an ACA, in which case the normal max of €50,000 may apply).
  • Historic Shopfronts

Questions about the eligibility of a particular building or shopfront should be directed to the Architectural Conservation Officer (ACO) or Heritage Officer of the local authority for the area in which the building is located.

Questions about the technical details of the schemes may be directed to builtheritage@housing.gov.ie