Town and Village Regeneration Scheme

PLEASE NOTE. The Department for Enterprise will be suspending the below scheme until the end of April 2020 to allow the Enterprise Support team to focus its resources on providing direct support to protect businesses, workers and the Island's economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

Please note the team is still accepting applications for this scheme, however the team will be unable to answer enquiries and applications will not be processed while the Department prioritises applications for the COVID-19 support schemes.

The Town & Village Regeneration Scheme 2019 has been established to provide financial assistance to improve the appearance of commercial premises and create civic amenity projects within the Island’s Towns and Villages.

Purpose

The Scheme’s two main purposes are to improve the quality and appearance of the Island’s towns and villages and this is provided in two ways:

a) Encouraging local businesses to improve the external visual appearance of their property, including but not limited to:

• Access – Doors, automatic doors and ramps etc
• Signage
• Glass fronts
• Lighting scheme
• Painting and rendering
• Etc

b) Developing civic amenities though visual improvements, facilities, points of interest and improvement to public areas, including but not limited to:

• Lighting
• Access
• Public art
• Planting
• Signage
• Seating
• Etc

Funding

The Scheme offers eligible organisations a grant payable as a one off payment of up to 50% capped at £10,000 per project to eligible applicants.

Applicants must have sufficient funds to pay for the project work in full. If the applicant is successful, the Department will then reimburse up to 50% of the project on completion.

Beneficiaries/Applicants 

Grants under this Scheme may be given to the following beneficiaries

• A partnership
• A sole trader
• A limited company
• A charity
• A non-profit making organisation
• A local authority

Eligibility

• The project must be located within a Regeneration Area outlined below
• The project must make improvements to the appearance and/or amenity of the town or village
• The work must not have been started before the application has been submitted and acknowledged
• The project must not have received support under any other Government Scheme
• The organisation must conduct business lawfully in the Island and
• The organisation must be up to date with paperwork and payments for Income Tax, NI, VAT, or be on an approved VAT payment plan.

Regeneration Areas 

Eligible businesses must be located within a Regeneration Area.  A Regeneration Area is defined as an area within an Area Plan or Local Plan which is delineated for the following uses:

• Mixed use (including town centre)
• Retail
• Shopping
• Tourism
• Office or
• Commercial use

The Area Plans and Local Plans are available to view online.

Exclusions

• Residential properties
• Government Departments
• Support is not available for:
  • The cost of labour or materials provided by the recipient or by persons employed by the recipient
  • The operating costs of the completed project
  • Any costs payable to a Government Department, a Statutory Board or local authority
  • Events and
  • Support is not available for general repairs and maintenance works which do not uplift the area.

Important Notes

• Commercial premises can only apply for external improvement work, internal improvements are excluded unless they are incidental to the approved exterior work
• Three quotes must accompany each application from suitably accredited trade businesses
• Only one application per site is permitted, and usually only one application per organisation per year
• Grants are offered entirely at the Department’s discretion, and even if an applicant is eligible via the criteria set out above, applications are reviewed on a case by case basis on their own merits with no guarantee of a grant being offered.
• For any building work, Manx Accredited Construction Contractors Scheme (MACCS) members must be used. A list of members is available: www.iomcf.im/maccs/contractor-category-list/

Next Steps

1. If your organisation is interested in applying for the Scheme, please firstly engage with the Department prior to submitting an application form by clicking the ‘Enquire now’ button to the right hand side.
2. Once you have discussed the Scheme with a member of the Enterprise Support team and you are happy to apply, read the Scheme guidelines and submit a completed application with all supporting paperwork. Guidelines and application forms are available from the downloadable resources section on the top right hand side of this page. Application forms should be submitted to enterprisesupport@gov.im or sent to: TVRS 2019, Enterprise Support, Department for Enterprise, St Georges Court, Upper Church Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1EX.
3. Your application will then be assessed based on the following
   1. Location of the premises /project
   2. Planning permission and building/site owner approval (if required)
   3. Project overview
   4. Organisation eligibility and
   5. Available Department budget

The Department aims to provide written notification of the decision within 3 weeks of receipt of all required information.