An additional £45m will be made available by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for new grants in 2011-12, it has been confirmed.

The funding agency has confirmed that its overall budget for the next financial year will be £250m, with a full business plan to be confirmed in spring 2011.

An increase in the share of National Lottery funding available for heritage, approved by the House of Lords on 23 November, has helped increase the HLF budget.

'Healthy' Lottery ticket sales have also provided a boost, with £17m of the extra funds to be allocated to four programmes.

The Townscape Heritage Initiative will receive an additional £1m; repair grants for places of worship in England will be increased by £4m; and 'Your Heritage' is set to secure an extra £5m.

Landscape Partnerships will also benefit from an extra £7m compared with its budget for 2010-11.

HLF chair Dame Jenny Abramsky said: "We hope this will be heartening news. £250m will make a real difference across the UK."

"We think it's particularly important to be increasing our investment in smaller grants having long seen the heritage benefits of people getting involved at a local level."

Heritage minister John Penrose added: "This increase in funding is fantastic news for all those organisations and charities who will secure grants, ensuring our wonderful heritage is protected for years to come."