“Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – VI

Following the General Synod decision in February 2020, new provisions on carbon reduction were introduced under the Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2022 (“the new provisions”) came into force 1 July 2022. This is the sixth in the series of posts which update the list of determinations under the revised provisions, here. Judgments before the new provisions were introduced are here

Judgments after 1 July 2022

 

HEAT PUMPS
Re St. Anselm Kennington Cross[2023] ECC Swk6 Air source heat pump
Re St. Michael le Belfrey York [2023] ECC Yor 2 Bivalent system
Re St. Peter Mancroft Norwich [2024] ECC Nor 1 Heat pump, solar panels
Re St Egelwin the Martyr Scalford [2024] ECC Lei 1 Separate system/ASHP
ELECTRICAL HEATING
Re St. Andrew Bulmer [2023] ECC Chd 3 Chandelier  heaters
Re All Saints Stanton [2023] ECC SEI 2 Quartz heaters
Re St. Mary Piercebridge [2023] ECC Dur 3 Electrical heating
Re St. Michael Wandsworth Common [2023] ECC Swk 2 New electric radiators
Re St. Bartholomew Colne [2025] ECC Bla 1 Replace infra red
GAS HEATING
Re St. Saviour Croydon [2022] ECC Swk 5 Gas boiler
Re Christ Church Gipsy Hill [2023] ECC Swk 8 Condensing gas boiler
Re St. Mark Haydock [2023] ECC Liv 2 Condensing gas boiler
Re All Saints Scotby [2023] ECC Car 2 Gas boiler
Re Christ Church Gipsy Hill [2023] ECC Swk 8 Condensing gas boiler
Re St. Mary and St. John the Divine Balham [2023] ECC Swk 7  Replacement gas boilers
Re Holy Trinity Cookham [2024] ECC Oxf 1 Replacement gas boiler
Re Holy Cross Newcastle [2024] ECC New 3 New convection heaters
Re Christ Church Wesham [2024] ECC Bla 5] Gas boiler, replace IR
Re Christ Church Chineham [2025] ECC Win 1 Replacement gas boilers, retrospective, refused
Re St. John the Baptist Tideswell [2025] ECC Der 2 new gas boilers: hydrogen-ready, on a green tariff, subject to carbon offsetting, and approved for a limited period of five years
OTHER
Re St. Mary the Virgin Stebbing [2024] ECC Chd 1 LPG
Re St. Mary Stalbridge [2024] EC Sal 1

Re St. Mary Stalbridge [2024] EC Sal 2

Oil fired boiler
Re All Saints Lydiard Millicent [2023] ECC Bri 4 Underfloor heating
Re St. Mary Threlkeld [2023] ECC Car 4 Sec glazing – Rejected. Insufficient detail before court.
Re St. Mary Magdalene Woodstock [2025] ECC Oxf 4 Solar Panels, supplementary

 

Judgments prior to 1 July 2022

HEAT PUMPS
Re All Saints Woodham [2022] ECC Gui 1 Underfloor, Heat pump
Re St. Leonard Southoe  [2022] ECC Ely 4 Lighting, solar, ASHP
ELECTRICAL HEATING
Re St. Gregory Sudbury [2022] ECC SEI 2 Quartz halogen
GAS HEATING
Re All Saints Harbury [2022] ECC Cov 3 Radiant panels
Re Christ Church Dore [2022] ECC She 2 Underfloor, Gas
Re St. Mark Mitcham [2020] ECC Swk 5 New gas-fired system
Re St. Mary Oxted [2021] ECC Swk 1 Gas
Re St. Mary the Virgin Dedham [2022] ECC Chd 2 Gas, green tariff
Re St. Mary the Virgin Welling [2022] ECC Swk 3. Replacement gas boiler
Re St. Nicolas Great Bookham [2022] ECC Gui 3 Gas, green tariff
Re St. Peter Walsall [2021] ECC Lic 4 Gas
Re St. Thomas and St. Luke Dudley [2021] ECC Wor 2 Gas, green tariff
Re St. Thomas Ashton-in-Makerfield [2020] ECC Liv 1 Gas
OIL
Re St. John the Evangelist Donisthorpe [2021] ECC Lei 1 Oil

 Comment

The recent post Church of England: Revised “Net Zero ” Routemap (10 July 2026) gives an indication of the approach of the Diocesan Advisory Committees (to 2025) to the the replacement of “oil boilers”.

4.2.12 Milestone for Churches and cathedrals: No new oil boiler
No new oil boilers installed in churches and cathedrals after this date. Target date 2025
% dioceses
Not possible in the near future. Churches continue to submit like for like oil replacements. New oil boilers are installed each year, no appetite in the DAC to address this

2%

DAC keen to support, working with churches to avoid oil boiler installations, but long way to go still, no official policy on this.

69%

DAC has a policy for no new oil boilers.

21%

DAC policy says no new oil boilers, this is being successfully enforced.

7%

However, “oil boilers” is not a metric which has a direct equivalent in the Faculty Jurisdiction (Amendment) Rules 2022, which refer to  fitting “boilers which do not use fossil fuels” and “boiler replacement using same fuel supply”. Oil-fired heating systems are only referred to in relation to the the work being undertaken “by a person whose work is subject to an accredited certification scheme (as defined in rule 3.1(6)). Furthermore, it is the diocesan consistory court which determines the conditions under which boiler replacement may be undertaken.

Updated: 12 July 2026, 04 :52.

Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "“Net zero”, church heating, and the consistory courts – VI" in Law & Religion UK, 13 July 2026, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2026/07/13/net-zero-church-heating-and-the-consistory-courts-vi/

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