Heritage Lottery Fund and Spurs join forces in revival of derelict historic building in North Tottenham

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•    Percy House, owned by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and located on Tottenham High Road, will be fully restored and will become the new home for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation
•    A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and match funding from the Club will fund the full restoration of the former townhouse and secure its long-term future in the area
•    Percy House will become the Foundation’s new head office and will act as a major community enterprise, employment and skills hub located at the heart of the regeneration of North Tottenham
•    The former townhouse was named after the original inhabitants of the site, the Percy family, who have considerable links to the namesake of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, ‘Harry Hotspur’

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation are delighted to announce that a former residential townhouse in North Tottenham, owned by Tottenham Hotspur Football Club since June 2007, will be restored to a thriving community venue thanks to a £1.8 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), along with match funding from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, the charitable arm of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, has been awarded the grant to turn Percy House, a prominent 18th century building on Tottenham High Road, in to a hub for enterprise, skills and training, creating sustainable, long-term education and employment opportunities for local people as part of the Club’s commitment to the development and regeneration of North Tottenham.

Sue Bowers, Head of HLF London, said: “Historic buildings like Percy House have incredible potential to act as a driver of regeneration and economic growth. With Heritage Enterprise  HLF is enabling local communities and businesses to tap into that potential by covering the high costs of restoring vacant and underused heritage buildings - making them fit-for-purpose as commercial, and therefore sustainable, spaces.”

Grant Cornwell, Chief Executive, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation said, “We are extremely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for awarding this grant for the restoration of Percy House, and to the Club for supporting us to find a long-term use for this major heritage asset in the area.

“This fantastic scheme will play a significant role in the regeneration of Tottenham, supporting local residents and a creating a centre for employment, social cohesion, training and heritage in Haringey, allowing the Foundation to enhance its role in building the future prospects of our community.”

The Percy House Enterprise Regeneration Project will transform the economic and social prospects of one of the most disadvantaged communities in the country, delivering over 95,000 hours of community development, health, enterprise, education and sports programmes every year to those living in the Club’s local area.

The Percy House community hub will include:
•    Tottenham Hotspur Foundation offices
•    Heritage Learning Zone
•    Foundation Degree programme
•    Employment and Skills provision
•    Heritage exhibition space

By granting this funding, Heritage Lottery Fund has also ensured that the rich history of Tottenham is passed on to future generations, with the instatement of new Haringey history volunteers, who along with the support of local historians, will deliver outreach sessions in schools and community venues as well as via the Percy House Heritage Learning Zone.

Built on the site of The Black House, a mansion demolished in the early 1740s and whose inhabitants, the Percy family, were connected to the namesake of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - Henry Hotspur, the Grade II* listed building played a pioneering role in the launch of the pirate radio movement in the 1960s.

This money has been awarded through HLF’s Heritage Enterprise programme. It is designed to help when the cost of repairing an historic building is so high that restoration simply is not commercially viable. Grants of £100k to £5million bridge the financial gap, funding the vital repairs and conservation work needed to convert derelict, vacant buildings like Percy House, into new, usable commercial spaces that can have a positive impact on local economies.