Grants and financing for your monument

Financial support for owners of national monuments

Timely maintenance can prevent expensive and major restorations. It contributes to the preservation of monumental values. For this reason, timely maintenance of national monuments is encouraged by owners through a subsidy scheme or fund. No rights can be derived from this information. 

Grant for national monuments with residential function.

Private owners of national monuments with a residential function, can apply annually between March 1 and April 30 for the conservation subsidy residential national monuments. This is a retrospective scheme, where you apply for the subsidy for the previous year for work on monumental parts, which are technically necessary, aimed at sober and efficient maintenance or repair. The Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) processes the subsidy application. Annually, a total average of €110 million in subsidies is granted. 

Starting in 2026, the rules for submitting an application for housing subsidy will be tightened. Firstly, a new requirement is that photos taken before and after the work must be included with the application. These photos must be attached, together with the itemized invoices (always) and an inspection report (for applications above €70,000). It is important that the photos clearly show which maintenance work has been carried out and on which parts of the monument. This new submission requirement is intended to make it easier to determine the technical necessity of the work and to demonstrate that the work for which costs are claimed has actually been carried out.

It is also mandatory to include a foundation survey demonstrating the technical necessity of the repair when claiming costs for foundation repair. If other work has been carried out that is not necessary for the maintenance of the national monument, such as deepening a basement, the costs must be itemized. Only costs that can be clearly traced back to repair work necessary for maintenance can be made eligible for subsidy. 

In addition, there are a few minor changes. For example, the invoice date will now determine the year in which the work was carried out. Furthermore, a detailed invoice is required, describing which work, measures, and facilities were carried out on which parts of the national monument. The costs of labor, materials, and equipment must be specified for each activity carried out. Finally, the RCE may request additional information from the applicant in order to assess the extent to which the costs claimed are eligible for subsidy. The residential property scheme now specifies more clearly what information may be requested in which cases. For more information about this subsidy, please visit the CultureelErfgoed.nl website or view the Summary of the Guidelines for Eligible Maintenance Costs for Residential Property Subsidies. 

Loan for a national monument with a residential function

Owners of a national monument that is a residential property (including farms without agrarian function) may be eligible for a low-interest loan. This is the Restoration Fund mortgage. The interest rate of the Restoration Fund mortgage is 5% below the market rate (with a minimum of 1.0% interest).

Grant for national monuments other than residential

Are you the owner of a national monument that is not a residential property according to the Subsidy Scheme for the Preservation of Monuments (Sim)? Then you are eligible for this subsidy. Every year, from February 1 to March 31, you can apply for the Subsidy Scheme for the Preservation of Monuments (Sim) for this category of national monuments. Such as a church, windmill, or bunker. Green and archaeological monuments are also covered by this subsidy scheme. This maintenance subsidy covers normal maintenance costs (modest and efficient maintenance) based on a six-year maintenance plan. 

The Sim scheme will change from 2026 onwards. A structural amount of €103 million per year will then be made available. Of this, €86.3 million will go to built national monuments (of which €5 million will go specifically to large church buildings), €15.2 million to green national monuments, and €1.5 million to archaeological national monuments. The subsidy percentage for built and green national monuments is 30% for owners who use their national monument for commercial purposes. For other owners and professional monument conservation organizations (POMs), the subsidy is 50%. For archaeological national monuments, these percentages are 60% and 80% respectively. 

It is important to note that, in order to be eligible for this subsidy, your eligible maintenance costs per application over the six-year period must exceed a minimum amount of eligible costs. For built and green national monuments, this amount is €6,000. For archaeological national monuments, the minimum amount is set at €3,000. If your maintenance costs are lower than this, you will not be eligible to apply for a subsidy.

In addition to the subsidy for regular maintenance of a listed building, the owner can apply for a subsidy for carrying out a sustainability study. This subsidy amounts to €4,000. According to the Foundation for Recognized Restoration Quality in Monument Conservation (Stichting Erkende Restauratiekwaliteit Monumentenzorg, ), sustainability advice focuses on identifying opportunities for savings, with special attention to the monumental values of the building. The costs of sustainability measures themselves are not eligible for subsidy under this scheme.

For more information about the Sim, please visit the RCE website Changes to the subsidy scheme for the preservation of monuments 2026. 

Provincial subsidy for national monuments other than those with a residential function

Below are three subsidies from the Province of South Holland. All these subsidies relate to national monuments other than those with a residential function. 

Subsidy for the restoration of major national monuments

From December 1, 2025, through February 28, 2026, you can apply for a subsidy from the Province of South Holland for the complete or partial restoration of a large national monument. It is possible to apply for subsidies for multiple national monuments at the same time, but these monuments must belong to a single complex. It is also possible to apply for a subsidy for work that contributes to accessibility for people with disabilities. This subsidy also applies to farms, as farms are considered commercial buildings.

You can receive reimbursement for up to 50% of the costs you incur. The total costs must be at least €100,000. No subsidy will be granted for costs below €25,000 or above €1 million. If you would like to know more about this subsidy, please visit the website of the province of South Holland.

Subsidy for restoration of small national monuments 

From June 1 through July 31, 2026, you can apply for a subsidy from the Province of South Holland for the restoration of small national monuments. This subsidy is specifically for small historical structures (max. 30 m² floor space) at a national monument, such as fountains, gravestones, fences, or garden walls.

You can receive reimbursement for up to 50% of the costs you incur. The Province of South Holland does not provide subsidies for amounts less than €5,000 or more than €25,000. If you carry out the project yourself, you can only receive a subsidy for the material costs. The total costs of the application may not exceed €100,000. More information about this subsidy can be found on the website of the Province of South Holland. 

Subsidy for major maintenance of roofs of agricultural national monuments 

From February 2 through August 31, 2026, you can submit an application for major maintenance on the roof of a farmhouse, bulb shed, or agricultural outbuilding. The subsidy does not apply to asbestos removal, roof insulation, gutter replacement, installation of new skylights, or other modern additions. When repairing the roof structure, you will not receive a subsidy for the repair of trusses or rafters. When installing a screw roof, you cannot receive a subsidy for the cladding and insulation.  

You can receive reimbursement for up to 50% of the costs. The Province of South Holland does not provide subsidies for amounts less than €10,000 or more than €40,000. If you carry out the project yourself, only the materials are covered by the subsidy. For more information about this subsidy, please visit the website of the Province of South Holland. 

Loans with the National Restoration Fund

If you own a national monument that is not a residence, you can also apply for a loan from the Restoration Fund. In some cases, you may be eligible for a Restoration Fund mortgage. Would you like to borrow at least €300,000? Then you may be eligible for the Restoration Fund Plus Mortgage. If you take out a Restoration Fund mortgage or a Restoration Fund Plus mortgage, you may not apply for a government subsidy (housing subsidy or conservation subsidy) for the same work. For more information, contact the National Restoration Fund (NRF). 

Cultural Fund for Monuments

Are you looking for a financing opportunity for your provincial or municipal monument, or your registered iconic building, which lies within a protected villagescape? Perhaps the Cultural Fund for Monuments offers a solution. It is specifically designed for this category of heritage and operates under the same construction as the NRF's restoration fund mortgage. 

Monument Fund 1818

The Monument Fund 1818 provides low-interest loans for the purpose of rebuilding, renovation and restoration of municipal monuments and monumental churches that are (partly) given a new purpose. In the case of church buildings, these may also be national monuments.

Rezoning grant 

When a monument loses its function, it is sometimes difficult to find a new suitable destination. To support this process, a subsidy is available for reuse of both national and municipal monuments as valuable heritage without a formal status. The aim is to prevent the loss of characteristic, vacant buildings, such as industrial buildings, churches and farms, while waiting for their reallocation. This subsidy applies to all types of monuments, excluding regular residential buildings. Part of this scheme is also to encourage research into the feasibility of a reallocation and the possibilities for preservation.

Heritage conservation (Monuments Watch)

Regular maintenance prevents expensive restorations. Moreover, it prevents decay of cultural-historically valuable heritage. Under this motto, each province has established a Monuments Watch to encourage heritage conservation. They are independent and expert organizations that perform construction inspections on a non-profit basis. This enables an owner to take timely and regular preventive measures for the preservation of the monument. On the basis of a carefully prepared report containing concrete recommendations for maintenance and repair, the owner gains insight into where and when maintenance should be carried out.

The inspection report drawn up by the Heritage Conservation Authority (Monumentenwacht) according to national guidelines can serve as a basis for drawing up maintenance and restoration plans and thus also for subsidy applications. In this context, advice on maintenance and subsidy can also be requested. To encourage the regular maintenance of monuments, the municipality of Wassenaar offers owners of municipal or national monuments a subscription.

You can register at erfgoed@wassenaar.nl.

Sustainable heritage

There are several schemes for making heritage assets more sustainable, such as the Sustainable Monument Loan for residential houses and the Sustainable Monument Plus Loan for national monuments that are not registered as residential houses. 

There is also a subsidy scheme for residents of a national monument: 

Keep in mind that in many cases a permit is required to perform the work. With questions about this, please contact erfgoed@wassenaar.nl.