The Dunedin City Council has made some changes to the way it supports heritage building owners.

An expanded Dunedin Heritage Fund has been set up, with $670,000 a year available for grants. As an owner of a heritage building scheduled in the Dunedin City District Plan, or proposed to be scheduled in the Second Generation Dunedin City District Plan (2GP), your property is eligible for support from this fund.

To make things simpler, we’ve combined three types of funding which help property owners look after and develop the city’s historic buildings. Funding allocated to the old Dunedin Heritage Fund, the Central City Heritage Re-use Grant Scheme and rates relief scheme, is now part of the expanded Dunedin Heritage Fund.

The changes mean the re-use grant and rates relief schemes are not open for new applications, but existing grants from these schemes will continue to be paid providing any grant conditions are met.

The DCC and Heritage New Zealand will continue to jointly administer the Dunedin Heritage Fund to help protect and conserve Dunedin’s heritage buildings so people can use and enjoy them.

The Heritage Fund Committee will allocate the funding. The Dunedin Heritage Fund now has four rounds a year and the next round closes on 31 January 2019. If you are interested in making an application to the DHF, please submit your application by the closing date(s). Details about the scheme, application requirements and future closing dates can be found here: www.dunedin.govt.nz/heritage-fund.

Alternatively, please contact Andrea Farminer, DCC Heritage Advisor, for an informal chat about your project and how the Fund may be able to assist. Andrea can be reached at heritage@dcc.govt.nz or call her on 477 4000.

Approved projects can receive funding through grants, interest-free loans or a combination of both.