Chancel Repair Liability

YOUR WORLD IS OUR FOCUS www.astonlark.com

1 What is Chancel Repair Liability?

Chancel Repair Liability dates back to medieval times and relates to the historic responsibility for the upkeep of a being divided between the and the Parishioners. Parishioners’ responsibilities were eventually transferred to the church and do not pose any issues in property ownership. However, Rectors were historically responsible for the upkeep of church chancels and as the lands of the Rector later became divided by sale into private ownership the responsibility to repair the chancel has been passed down to the successive owners of the land or buildings. Over 5,200 are affected and, the liability is estimated to affect 3.5 million acres of land. An important aspect to note is that the land need not necessarily be adjacent to an identifiable church.

How are the liabilities enforced?

Under the Chancel Repairs Act 1932 a Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the power to serve a demand for the cost or contributions towards the cost of repairing the church chancel. In the event that the owner fails to pay then the PCC can enforce the demand through the courts. There is no cap on the liability and it can cover all extensions and alterations made to the church since medieval times. In all cases the liability will be “joint and several” which means that one property alone might be required to pay for all the repairs. The decision regarding whom to pursue rests with the PCC.

2 Why is this such a What you can do hot topic? Determining whether a property is subject to chancel repair liability is fraught with difficulty and ambiguity. There is no single central register which can be used to indentify all chancel repair liability On 13th October 2003, the Government brought in legislation attached to land and property in and and existing meaning that all chancel repair obligations will cease on 13th October records are often incomplete and hard to interpret. There are two 2013 unless the chancel of a church has noted their interest in a types of chancel repair searches that you can choose to request. A particular property or land with the Land Registry before this date. basic chancel repair search checks whether a property is situated A purchaser of affected property after that date where no liability in a where the potential of a chancel repair liability claim is registered will not be liable. But, liable properties owned or exists. However, this does not automatically indicate that the specific purchased on or before 12th October 2013 will retain liability until the property in question is affected by a chancel repair liability. An in- next time they are sold. The PCC can also register the liability after depth chancel repair search is available and costs more. However, 12th October 2013 as long as the property has not changed hands this in-depth chancel repair search is usually more specific to the since that date. property in question, although it should be noted that it is not Unfortunately this legislation means that the likelihood of a claim absolute. and liability being noted with the Land Registry greatly increased Should a chancel repair liability be identified through the in-depth as churches and their administrators look to either protect their chancel repair search then chancel repair insurance cannot be interests or cash in on any pre-existing liabilities. obtained retrospectively to cover the property. It is then up to the potential purchaser of the property as to whether they wish to continue with the purchase or not due to the indepth chancel repair search result. Chancel repair insurance can be purchased if the basic chancel repair search shows that the property is in a parish that runs the risk Claims Example of chancel repair liability claims. Chancel repair insurance is priced according to the purchase price and size of the property. Chancel repair insurance is a one-off premium and once in force will pay any – PCC of Aston chancel repair claim made by the church. If you have any queries regarding Chancel Repair Liability your Cantlow and others Account Executive would be happy to discuss this with you further. v Wallbank (2003)

Mr & Mrs Wallbank inherited their property in two parcels in 1974 and 1986, but first became aware of their chancel repair obligations in 1990 when they were presented with a bill for church repairs of £6,000. The couple contested the demand, eventually winning their case in the Court of Appeal in 2001 because the judges agreed that the liability of lay owners of former “glebe” land to provide money towards the cost of repairs to the chancel of the parish church operated in an arbitrary and unfair way. The Church of England then took the case to the House of Lords where the Wallbanks lost their claim that their obligation to pay for church repairs was unenforceable because it contravened the Human Rights Act. The repair bill ended up amounting to £186,969 + VAT, while the couple faced another £250,000 or so in legal costs. They eventually had to sell the farm to cover these costs.

3 Aston Lark Limited Registered in England and Wales No: 02831010 Registered office: Ibex House, 42–47 Minories, London EC3N 1DY Aston Lark Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

YOUR WORLD IS OUR FOCUS www.astonlark.com

AL -HH-CRL-0718 4