New subsidy scheme for major restoration projects of national monuments opens

Minister Gouke Moes (OCW): “In a rapidly changing world, monuments remind us of a shared past and connect different generations. The new scheme is an important step in improving the financing system for monument care. As a government, we support owners in caring for monuments, but especially with major restoration projects the challenge is great. With this scheme, we offer a solution to prevent irreversible decay of such national monuments.”

In June 2024, an exploration was completed into the financing system for monument care. The main conclusion was that the financing system works well, but the financing options for owners of large national monuments are insufficient. Because these monuments are of great value to society, a package of measures was presented in June 2025. One of the measures is a national subsidy scheme for major restorations, for which € 45 million has been made available on an incidental basis. This scheme has been developed in recent months based on discussions with the monument sector and provinces.

The funds will be made available in 2 rounds: in autumn 2026 and 2027. In case of oversubscription, applications with a lower requested subsidy percentage will be prioritized. The threshold amount to qualify for subsidy is € 2.5 million in eligible restoration costs. To prevent the available money from going to only a few projects, there is also an upper limit of € 10 million in eligible restoration costs.

Only restoration projects with an environmental permit for the national monument activity qualify for subsidy. Owners can also apply for restoration costs of green national monuments. The threshold amount for this is € 1 million in eligible costs.

This scheme adds a new pillar to the financing system for monument care. Other pillars are: loans via the National Restoration Fund (NRF), residential subsidies, maintenance subsidies (Sim), and regular restoration subsidies via the provinces, to which the national government contributes.

More information about the subsidy scheme for major restoration projects of non-residential national monuments is available on the website cultureelerfgoed.nl.