Advice and publications

The AHF plays a strong development role by encouraging and advising on the formation of building preservation trusts, and providing relevant guidance throughout the duration of an AHF-funded project. It maintains a register of ‘revolving fund’ BPTs – those established to undertake a programme of projects by acquiring, repairing and then disposing of buildings worthy of preservation – and provides a standard governing document, recognised by the Charity Commission in England & Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and the Inland Revenue in Northern Ireland, for such trusts. Most revolving fund BPTs work within defined geographical areas, usually specific towns or counties. The AHF can put you in touch with BPTs active in a particular area.

Publications and information sheets

Several publications are available from the AHF (free of charge unless otherwise indicated):

Detailed Guidance Notes for Applicants for the following AHF financial programmes:

• Project Viability Grant - Guide and Application Form
• Loans - Guide and Application Form
• Development Loans - Guide and Application Form
• Project Development Grants - Guide and Application Form.

Building Preservation Trusts (information sheet).

A Future From the Past (AHF information leaflet).

Model Memorandum and Articles of Association for a Building Preservation Trust, with accompanying notes for England & Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland - see setting up a charity. If you would like a copy as a Word file (which can be amended to produce the final documents) by e-mail free or as a hard copy by post, please contact the AHF.

Funds for Historic Buildings. This publication is free as a searchable database at www.ffhb.org.uk) - see sources of funds.

Fully illustrated Annual Review:

2006-2007 Annual Review

2007-2008 Annual Review

2008-2009 Annual Review

2009-2010 Annual Review

2010-2011 Annual Review

2011-2012 Annual Review

The Annual Review is sent free to Friends - see supporting the AHF.

How to Rescue a Ruin - by setting up a local buildings preservation trust by Hilary Weir - the AHF's guide to rescuing historic buildings on a not-for-profit basis (£8.00 inc p&p)

Statutory Report and Financial Statements.

Please contact the AHF if you would like to know more, or to order free publications. If you wish to order publications that are not free of charge, please send a cheque, payable to the Architectural Heritage Fund.

Anyone running a building restoration project would find the Guidance Notes published by the Association of Preservation Trusts (APT) very useful. These are available free to members of APT and £65 (plus p&p) to non-members; please send a cheque, payable to the Association of Preservation Trusts, to Alhambra House, 27-31 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0AU.

All over the country, community-based organisations are taking on responsibility for managing assets that were formerly owned and managed by local authorities. By doing so, they can help to focus the energies of local communities and prevent these assets, which are often local landmarks, from falling into decay or unsympathetic use.

Community ownership can help to secure a local service or amenity (such as a community hall or a public open space), at a time when local authorities are looking to make economies. Local authorities can sell an asset at less than full market value where this would support a use that brings social, economic or environmental benefits for the area.

Of course such transfers are not without their challenges. Community groups may need support and advice to help them make a success of their project, and to ensure that it remains viable through changing times.

As a result English Heritage, along with partners in the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Prince's Regeneration Trust and the Development Trust Association's Asset Transfer Unit have come together to commission a new guidance note and summary.

The summary called 'Pillars of the Community' provides an introduction to the nine steps that should be taken to make a transfer a success. The fuller guidance, outlines the process for asset transfers, both from a local authority and community perspective and is accompanied by a number of case studies which provide real life examples of exactly what can be achieved.

New guidance for local authorities and public sector bodies looking to transfer the ownership and management of historic buildings, monuments or landscapes to community-based organisations is now available on the English Heritage website http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/get-involved/take-ownership/.

This guidance, which has been compiled in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, National Trust, Architectural Heritage Fund, Prince’s Regeneration Trust and the Development Trust Association’s Asset Transfer Unit, comes at a time when the Government is encouraging communities to play a bigger role in improving their local areas. In addition, the Localism Bill proposes that local people are given first refusal on buying assets of community value.

Community ownership can help prevent a building or open space that has historic significance from falling into disrepair. It can also provide an alternative means of providing a local service or amenity, such as a community hall.

The guidance covers a range of issues from the viewpoint of the local authority and the community respectively. These include taking stock of heritage assets, formulating transfer strategies, developing support for the project, assessing options for new uses, managing the risks, agreeing terms for transfer, raising finance and maintaining long-term viability. The guidance offers tips and checklists and provides numerous links to sources of further advice and support.

Guidance on the transfer of historic assets launched
English Heritage, along with partners in the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Prince's Regeneration Trust and the Development Trust Association's Asset Transfer Unit have come together to commission a new guidance note and summary.

Report on the impacts of heritage-led regeneration on communities commissioned by the Agencies Co-ordinating Group (The Architectural Heritage Fund, The Civic Trust, Institute of Historic Building Conservation, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust and the UK Association of Preservation Trusts)
Launched at the 'Place, Space and Conservation' conference in Manchester in 2008 this Report, commissioned by the Agencies Co-ordinating Group (The Architectural Heritage Fund, The Civic Trust, Institute of Historic Buildings Conservation, The Prince's Regeneration Trust and the UK Association of Preservation Trusts) and written by Ela Palmer, looks at the impacts of heritage-led regeneration on communities, and highlights some significant findings from examples throughout the UK. The Executive Summary (7.37MB) is also available on this website.

Sites Insight
To mark its 30th anniversary, the AHF asked 12 public figures to write on the subject of what matters to them about the UK’s heritage – its historic buildings and landscapes. The people chosen are well-known in their own fields – the media, politics, the arts, sport and business, but not generally associated with heritage, and their responses to the commission are passionate and hugely diverse. (Sites Insight was launched in November 2006 and is available from the AHF, £9.99 inc p&p.)

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