Rural Small Buildings Scheme

Click here for an Initial Enquiry Form (PDF)

Purpose

Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency (CREA) offers grants to assist the conversion or refurbishment of redundant or underused buildings in the rural areas of Cumbria in order to bring them back into productive business use or to enhance their current business use. The Rural Small Buildings Scheme (RSBS) may exceptionally also assist the development of new building space ancillary to existing buildings where such development maximises the effective use of the latter

Grants are not available simply for the refurbishment of current business premises or for the conversion of buildings to residential properties. Grants cannot be given if work on the project has already commenced.

Objectives

The objectives of the scheme are:

• the creation of workspace and job opportunities at a low cost to the public purse by providing encouragement to the private sector to bring back into commercial use buildings which would otherwise remain redundant;

• the encouragement of small business and target business development (including social and community enterprises) in order to help diversify the economic base of rural areas;

• the enhancement of the environment through the conversion of unused and semi-derelict buildings in preference to new build developments.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to private sector firms with up to 250 employees and individuals, including sole traders, partnerships, limited companies and cooperatives. Applicants may be owner-occupiers, owners proposing to lease out the premises concerned, or tenants who have a fixed term lease with an unexpired term of at least five years. Charitable trusts are also eligible.

The grant is towards eligible renovation and building costs and grant aid will not be paid on any unnecessarily expensive materials. Grant aid is not normally payable on work associated with a particular business need. Building costs can include installation of services, including broadband, access and car parking and landscaping if required by planning permission. Eligible costs can include professional fees (architects, surveyors, etc) and the costs of obtaining planning permission.

Projects in the urban areas of Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle City, Whitehaven and Workington are not eligible under this scheme.

Key Criteria

All workspace projects seeking financial assistance from this scheme are expected to demonstrate:

• potential for job creation – the project should normally result in new employment on the site. Priority will be given to projects generating higher income jobs.

• need – the potential for the project to address local employment issues, business requirements or key services

• viability - the potential to exploit a market opportunity or provide an essential local service profitably in the medium to long term

• and that there is a gap in the funding available to develop the project – in some cases this will take into account the potential for higher levels of borrowing on the increased value of the property and/or increased rental values.

In addition to these requirements, in order to target resources, priorities have been set for types of areas, business sectors, project types and projects incorporating high standards of design in the development of rural workspace.

Greater weight will be placed on projects which demonstrate that their objectives complement other strategic priorities and activities in order to create the maximum local impact. Geographical areas and spatial targets which are therefore considered key priorities for the RSBS are:

• European Objective 2 areas and LEADER+ schemes
• Tier 2 and 3 Assisted Areas
• Defra’s economically lagging areas
• National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites
• Market towns and larger villages
• Isolated, farm based projects where the project contributes to the diversification of farm income and is environmentally benign.

Sectoral Priorities

Priority will be given to workspace developments which can add value to the environmental and cultural infrastructure of rural Cumbria and seeking to accommodate the following sectors which can appropriately locate or re-locate in rural areas:

• creative industries, including crafts/arts and textiles
• food and drink industries
• outdoor recreation and education
• tourism developments with clear employment potential and of high quality
• IT and knowledge based industries, including computer software and services / internet-based applications
• energy and environmental technologies
• new and emerging technologies / advanced engineering/ manufacturing based on the same particularly linked to spin-out from the nuclear and defence industry in West Cumbria and Furness
• business and professional services
• agricultural diversification involving one or more of the above
• social and community enterprises.

Assistance is not available for agriculture or horticulture ‘perse’ nor for projects aiming to provide overnight accommodation (eg. Bed & breakfast or self-catering) unless job creation can be satisfactorily demonstrated, eg. within a hotel development

Project types

In line with the scheme’s objective of assisting small business development, priority will be given to:

• projects which are intended as, or include an element of, business start-up units
• managed workspace where shared services and facilities and/or business advice is integral to the project
• co-located office hubs which allow local access to multi-use workspace/hotdesks
• shops and key services which are otherwise absent locally

Quality Criteria

In addition to requiring all relevant planning permissions, listed building consents and building regulations to be in place, priority will be given to projects which seek to conserve “heritage” buildings in economic use, make a significant improvement in the environmental quality of its location and/or incorporate high standards of design, usage of recycled or reused materials, energy efficiency or use of renewable energy sources. Wherever appropriate, special consideration will be given to prospective developments which involve the location of – or give rise to - innovative and exciting social and economic activity in rural areas.

Level and Type of Assistance

The rate of grant will normally be up to 25% of the eligible costs of conversion or building, subject to a minimum grant of £7,500 (minimum project cost £30,000) and a maximum of £65,000.

RSBS grants may exceptionally be considered for projects being grant-aided by other public sector bodies but total public sector assistance cannot exceed 50% of the eligible project costs.

Project Appraisal

The financial complexity of each project will need to be considered. A business plan will be required for all applications and where appropriate a full financial appraisal undertaken. As a guide, a full financial appraisal will be likely where applications are for grants in excess of £25,000 and/or where the total project costs exceed £100,000. The full financial appraisal will normally be undertaken by CREA’s Financial Appraiser.

Method of Payment

Payment is normally made on completion of the project but claims for interim payments may be requested for approved grants exceeding £15,000. A Certificate of Costs signed by a member of an appropriate professional association is required as evidence of costs incurred.

Sale of grant-aided premises

If the grant-aided premises are sold or taken out of productive commercial use within five years of the grant being paid, the grant must be repaid with the following scale:

Before making an application it will be necessary to complete an Initial Enquiry Form to establish that the work involved is eligible. The applicant may then be invited to complete an application form for a RSBS grant.

Before submitting the completed application form, applicants will require:

• the appropriate planning permission for the proposed project, building regulations approval, including listed building consent if applicable.

• 2 comparable estimates for the work.

• proof of ownership or, if a tenant with an unexpired lease of at least 5 years, the landlord’s written consent to the works.

• a business plan.

CREA can provide the assistance of a business counsellor to help applicants prepare a suitable business plan.

RSBS grants are discretionary and CREA reserves the right not to award grants to projects which, in its view, do not fulfil the conditions of the scheme or where the appraisal demonstrates that the project could proceed without grant assistance. In some cases, it may be appropriate to offer reduced grants only

How to proceed

For initial enquiries contact :

Cumbria Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency
Enterprise Centre
Lake District Business Park
Mint Bridge Road
Kendal
Cumbria
CA11 9BP

Tel: 01539 726624
Fax: 01539 730928

E-mail: enquiries@crea.co.uk