Support for listed places of worship in England

On Thursday, DCMS announced that from the beginning of the new financial year  the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will be replaced by a new Places of Worship Renewal Fund, the scope of which will be England only. We posted on it here – and revised the post three times in the course of that day as further information became available.

There are about 21,000 listed places of worship in the UK, of which about two-thirds are in England. On that basis, the figures would suggest that the effect of the change for England is broadly neutral; however, Sir Philip Rutnam, Chair of the National Churches Trust, expressed concern that

“in future listed places of worship will have to bear the full cost of VAT on repairs. This brings to an end a system that has operated successfully for over 20 years. It means that in future local people will have to raise money not just to repair roofs and towers but to pay a 20 per cent tax to the Government.”

The precise terms on which the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will operate have not yet been published: we will report on them in detail as and when they become available.

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