Our research shows that:
Plastic sheeting protects the organ from leaking water at Holy Innocents,Thornhill Lees,Yorkshire.
The Church of England has responsibility for 80% of all listed places of worship in England. Of the £101m it spent on repairs in 2003, about £40m came from grants and around £60m came from worshippers. For other denominations and faiths, we can currently only estimate a repair bill of £10m on their listed places of worship, with around £3m coming from grants and £7m from congregations. Together then, England’s congregations are heroically raising about £67m a year, or 60% of the total expenditure. But many essential repairs are being over-looked, or their costs vastly underestimated. On the existing funding basis, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant making bodies would need to find £74m and congregations the remaining £111m. But, as we know, the congregations already struggle to raise £67m (£60m by Church of England congregations, £7m by congregations in other denominations and faiths), so the shortfall is actually more like £118m.
Who should pay and how?
It is unrealistic to expect the Government alone to meet the shortfall. It is equally unrealistic to expect congregations to double their current fundraising efforts, nor should the burden fall solely on their shoulders. Places of Worship are enjoyed and used by far wider communities than just regular attendees. The general public should help to bear some of the costs too. The overall figure of £925m over five years is not a backlog figure that could in some way be cleared once and for all. Thousands of ageing, complex historic buildings will continue to be expensive to repair and maintain. So instead of trying to fund an increasingly large repair bill,we must instead try to shrink the problem. English Heritage believes we can greatly reduce the annual repair bill of £185m provided the Government gives us £8m. This is how we propose it should be spent:
- The cost of repairs needed far outweighs the current spend
- Sources of funding to bridge the gap are dwindling
- The need is escalating at an alarming rate
Plastic sheeting protects the organ from leaking water at Holy Innocents,Thornhill Lees,Yorkshire.
The Church of England has responsibility for 80% of all listed places of worship in England. Of the £101m it spent on repairs in 2003, about £40m came from grants and around £60m came from worshippers. For other denominations and faiths, we can currently only estimate a repair bill of £10m on their listed places of worship, with around £3m coming from grants and £7m from congregations. Together then, England’s congregations are heroically raising about £67m a year, or 60% of the total expenditure. But many essential repairs are being over-looked, or their costs vastly underestimated. On the existing funding basis, English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant making bodies would need to find £74m and congregations the remaining £111m. But, as we know, the congregations already struggle to raise £67m (£60m by Church of England congregations, £7m by congregations in other denominations and faiths), so the shortfall is actually more like £118m.
What is the real deal?
New research by English Heritage reveals that if all the necessary repairs to England’s listed places of worship were properly assessed the estimated cost would be £925m over the next five years, or £185m each year.
Who should pay and how?
It is unrealistic to expect the Government alone to meet the shortfall. It is equally unrealistic to expect congregations to double their current fundraising efforts, nor should the burden fall solely on their shoulders. Places of Worship are enjoyed and used by far wider communities than just regular attendees. The general public should help to bear some of the costs too. The overall figure of £925m over five years is not a backlog figure that could in some way be cleared once and for all. Thousands of ageing, complex historic buildings will continue to be expensive to repair and maintain. So instead of trying to fund an increasingly large repair bill,we must instead try to shrink the problem. English Heritage believes we can greatly reduce the annual repair bill of £185m provided the Government gives us £8m. This is how we propose it should be spent:
- £2m a year for annual maintenance grants distributed through the denominations for those congregations least able to fund this work themselves;
- £750,000 a year to half-fund 15 Historic Places of Worship Support Officers who,working in the denominations,would support and advise congregations on how to look after their building;
- £1.25m a year to run regular training programmes for those 15 officers, as well as local authorities and congregations. This would also fund strategic building audits, better guidance and training for congregations on writing statements of significance; and
- £4m a year to start a grants scheme for smaller repairs not eligible under the current English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grants for Places Of Worship scheme.
Fabric Needs Survey Summary
(47 Kb)