Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Autumn Statement that he was setting up a Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund. The Fund is open to applications for eight weeks only, until midday on Friday 30 January 2015. Like the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, the new fund is UK-wide.

£15 million has been set aside by the Government for repair-works to roofs (eg coverings, timbers, ceilings and vaults) and rainwater disposal systems (eg gutters, valleys, hoppers, downpipes, gullies, drains and soakaways) of listed places of worship. To be eligible, the repairs will have been identified as urgent and necessary by the architect or professional responsible for the building. The aim of the scheme is to allow works to take place that will ensure that the building is weather-tight and prevent further deterioration of the fabric.

Crucially, however, places of worship that have received a previous repair grant from English Heritage, Historic Scotland, Cadw, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the Heritage Lottery Fund and/or other Lottery distributor that is still in delivery are not eligible to apply.  

Further information is available at:

• ChurchCare: Roof Repair Fund
• National Heritage Memorial Fund: Open: New £15 million fund for urgent roof repairs to listed places of worship.

We understand that there will shortly be a dedicated website for the Fund, at
www.lpowroof.org.uk – but it’s not yet live.

Update: the Listed Places of Worship: Roof Repair Fund website is now up and running.

(With thanks to Trevor Cooper, Chair of the Historic Religious Buildings Alliance for alerting us to the detail)