The Prince's Regeneration Trust, concerned about the increasing number of important historic buildings 'at risk' across the UK, has launched an online resource called Sustainable Heritage: An online toolkit for asset management.

Research by the trust shows that more than eight per cent of such buildings are in the ownership of local authorities and the new resource is designed to help these and other public bodies make informed decisions about the future of heritage assets in their ownership, and to manage and dispose of them in a sustainable way. . Once a historic building falls out of use it immediately becomes at risk from dereliction and decay, unless a new use can be found for it. It is at this stage that Sustainable Heritage aims to provides information about how to ensure historic buildings remain economically viable and contribute positively to the local community when their current use comes to an end.

It highlights the importance of community-based solutions to help redundant historic buildings perform a new function, drive regeneration of the wider community and respect the character of Britain's countryside, towns and cities. Among the topics covered are cost effective routes and exemplary practices to be considered when disposing of and managing heritage sites. The site also provides examples of where problems have arisen in the disposal process in order to share tips on where lessons can be learned. Ros Kerslake, chief executive of The Prince's Regeneration Trust, said: "This online resource can be seamlessly incorporated into the decision-making process of local authorities and other public bodies with large portfolios of historic buildings.

"The trust has years of award-winning professional experience in regeneration and we are experts in understanding the heritage value of sites that often have a unique and diverse set of needs and always attract a high level of public interest." The toolkit is also accompanied by a research paper which sets out the rationale for the steps within it as well as explaining what the situation is for Buildings at Risk in different parts of the UK.