SHBT is a charitable company which acquires buildings at risk, repairs them to the highest possible standards, selling or renting them for suitable long term uses, ensuring they are appropriately maintained. Our projects are not restricted to a particular area, or to any size or type of building, however we usually undertake projects which would be uneconomic for private individuals or commercial developers.
The Trust concentrates on two types of project:
In the early years the Trust acquired several important buildings; it restored and disposed of 22 -26 West High Street Lauder, the Old Manse in Cromarty and an important group of buildings in Hawick. However, some of the buildings acquired proved to be far more complex than first investigation suggested, leaving the Trustees with two major country houses, Strathleven and Auchinleck as well as an important town house in Kirkaldy all in poor repair and each with difficult problems of end use and funding to solve. Their immediate safety was secured, and solutions to all have now been found. In 2001 SHBT formed a partnership working arrangement with the Cockburn Conservation Trust (CCT) and ultimately with the Alba Group in September 2003, described below.
Since its inception SHBT has undertaken a number of major projects around Scotland, with more ongoing. Details of these projects may be found in the Past Projects and Current Projects section of this site.
SHBT now works within the Alba Conservation Group structure, with staff employed and all assets held by the Alba Conservation Trust which heads the Group. Through this working arrangement, SHBT is able to undertake its own projects selected by the Trust and its Trustees buying professional staff time from the Alba Trust. The structure is shown below:
