The AHF will reach its 50th year in 2026. Starting out in 1976 with a revolving loan fund of £1m, we have now supported nearly 2000 historic building reuse projects across the UK, through £90m of loan offers and £33m of grants invested in the community-led regeneration of historic buildings and places.
Some of the projects that we began supporting in the late 1970s remain partners today, demonstrating the long-term support we provide to organisations when needed - many of which are engaged in decades’ long efforts to regenerate complex buildings and sites. These sometimes-generational efforts to revive buildings, demonstrate the power and appeal these projects hold on people and places.
Our model has evolved from being primarily a lender to Building Preservation Trusts, to now being both a loan and grant provider, and one that invests through a range of social investments and into a wide array of charities and social enterprises.
These projects typically involve not just the repair, retrofit and reuse of a historic building, but in delivering a broad range of social, community and economic impacts: community-led housing, new arts and cultural provision, affordable workspaces and much needed local services of all kinds. We assist organisations to create uses that will give buildings new purpose and to design the adaptions and plans that will breathe new life into the architecture and renew it for future generations.
We have also built-up a huge range of expertise in the regeneration of historic buildings, knowledge that we share with organisations on each step of the reuse journey.
