East Cambridgeshire District Council (ECDC) has allocated £72,817.42 remaining from its Market Towns Programme funding towards a building renewal grant scheme that supports in Ely Town Centre.

This scheme is specifically designed to enable bids to be made for capital funding to enable improvements to the frontage of buildings or the general appearance of Ely's Town Centre area. All interested organisations will need to submit a formal application and will need to meet the criteria set out on this webpage. Grants may be awarded in whole or in part.

Applications will be evaluated based on the criteria set out below and then awarded a grant between £500 to £20,000 based on their requirements until all funding has been fully utilised. 

Criteria 

1. Applications are welcomed from interested organisations who maybe landlords, property owners, tenants, businesses, community groups, or other like-minded stakeholders.
2. Applications to this grant fund will only be considered for capital improvements to the frontage of buildings or the general appearance of Ely's town centre area. 
3. For the purposes of this grant fund, the town centre area will be defined as in the scheme coverage map (PDF) which shows all the street facing areas that will be considered.
4. Examples of projects that will be considered are, but not limited to, minor structural or aesthetic repairs to frontages, new or improved signage (not illuminated), street furniture, glazing, painting, planting, improved awnings and improved access into and out of premises and general street improvements that improves the visitor experience.
5. The minimum value or grant funding will be £500 and the maximum £20,000.
6. Grant funding under this scheme will only cover the cost of improvements (capital expenditure) and are not intended for work such as surveys, advice or other costs that might be considered non-capital expenditure.
7. Applicants who provide ECDC officers with full written details of their proposed project which includes the purpose of the work, anticipated timescales, full costs and specification.
8. The town centre areas fall within the Ely conservation area and contains a number of listed buildings. Our Conservation Officer will be pleased to offer advice/guidance prior to submission of any application to this scheme. To get advice please email conservation@eastcambs.gov.uk. Where appropriate, proposals should take account of the advice set out in the Council's Shop Front Design Guide (PDF).
9. Applicants will be expected to pay 100% of the project costs and then submit a claim to recover these costs (equivalent to the grant awarded) when the project is completed. 
10. The fund will be opened on the 15 July and close on the 30 August 2024.
11. In the vent that the fund is fully utilised before the close date, ECDC reserve the right to close the fund to either pending or new applications.
12. We can only accept one application per applicant or location.
13. Applications should be submitted online via our online application form. 
14. For general information, please contact towngrants@eastcambs.gov.uk.