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. 

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

Do you own a national monument that is not a residential building 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 Conservation of Monuments (Sim) for this category of national monuments. Such as a church, mill or bunker. Green and archaeological monuments also fall under this subsidy scheme. This maintenance subsidy relates to ordinary maintenance costs (sober and efficient maintenance) on the basis of a six-year maintenance plan. The subsidy amounts to a maximum of 60% of the eligible costs. 

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.

Restoration roofs agricultural national monuments

To perform major maintenance on the roof of an agricultural national monument (farmhouse, bulb barn or outbuilding), the province of South Holland has an attractive scheme where it supports restoration with a 50% subsidy.

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.