By Ryan Sands
APPLICATIONS for grants from a £600,000 pot for improving property frontages on Downpatrick’s St Patrick’s Avenue can be submitted from next week.
The application process for the Property Façade Renewal Scheme, as well as a separate one for the districtwide £2 million Commercial Property Revive and Reimagine Grant, will officially open on Tuesday, 16 June.
Earlier this month, the council ratified a committee decision to procure the professional services required to support the delivery of the two property grant schemes.
These have been developed by the Local Economic Partnership (LEP) and are being funded through the Department for the Economy’s Regional Balance Fund.
A council statement, released on Monday, said that the schemes are “designed to support the regeneration of commercial centres across the district”.
It highlighted that the Property Façade Renewal Scheme will “provide grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 to owners and eligible leaseholders of occupied commercial premises on St Patrick’s Avenue”.
