Parishes hoping to build affordable homes for their communities on pockets of church land – or as part of schemes such as rebuilding parish halls – are being invited to apply for grants to pay for expert advice from a new £3.2 million fund.
Funding of up to £25,000 towards the cost of architect, consultant and other professional fees needed to assess the feasibility of housing proposals on church land, will be supported through the Church of England scheme with some grants contributing to the cost of navigating the planning process.
John Knox, diocesan Director of Business Planning & Head of Property said his team were ready to support such projects in our parishes.
“This new scheme represents a great opportunity to gain financial support to help get things off the ground – quite literally.
“While this is a national initiative, we are always here ready with local expertise and advice,” said John.
The funding comes from an overall grant of £4.25 million over five years to help dioceses and parishes in building homes on their land as a response to the housing crisis.
A newly-formed Church of England Housing Project team, led by Beki Winter, formerly of the Housing Justice charity, is now actively seeking parishes interested in, or already working on, developing homes that address the needs of their communities.
“Many parishes have issues with their buildings or property, but don’t always realise that these problems could be opportunities to provide some housing,” she said.
“For example, an outdated church hall could be rebuilt to include a few flats above it, or a surplus car park could be redeveloped to provide some social homes.
"There are many creative ways to use church land or property to provide housing for people in need, whilst improving community facilities or bolstering parish finances.”
The grants programme runs alongside expert guidance for Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) that are interested in exploring how they could manage their property differently and provide homes for those in need.
Richard Sudworth, the Church of England’s Director of Faith and Public Life, said: “This housing initiative is a simple response to a biblical mandate to God’s people towards justice: where a true fast involves bringing the homeless poor into our house (Isaiah 58:7), and where serving Christ demands that we welcome the stranger (Matthew 25:35).”
Church leaders or PCC members interested in requesting support from the Housing Project team, or who would like to share their own experience of providing housing, should email HousingProject@churchofengland.org.
The Church Housing Association and Church Development Agency have been set up following the publication of the Coming Home report to work on speeding up the delivery of affordable homes, mainly on land owned by dioceses and their constituent parishes.
The Church Commissioners manages the national Church's endowment fund, which includes a portfolio of strategic development land on which it expects to build 32,000 homes over the next 20 years, of which at least 9,000 will be affordable.