A recent House of Lords decision has highlighted the fact that the Church of England is still able to pursue an owner of land that is subject to Chancel Repair Liability for contributions to the costs of repairs to the Chancel (the part of the church over the altar where the service is celebrated) of the relevant local parish church. The Church is under no obligation to identify the owners of all of the affected land within its parish and then share any such costs between them, but is able instead to recover the full costs of chancel repair from any one or more of them.

Historical background

Chancel Repair Liability is an ancient obligation dating back to mediaeval times which affects land that was formerly “rectorial glebe” land within a parish boundary. Before the Reformation, the local parish priest or rector was responsible for the repair of the chancel of the church, and to help to fund this, they were given rectorial glebe land together with a right to receive tithes. Over time, ownership of rectorial glebe land passed out of the hands of the Church and in many cases the land was divided up. Although tithes have long since been abolished, chancel repair liability remains in place.

What land is subject to this liability?

There is no definitive register which shows all land in England and Wales that is affected by this liability, although it is possible to carry out searches at public records offices and to raise enquiries of the Church itself. This does not always result in further light being shed on the question of whether a particular property is affected by the liability, and can be costly and time-consuming. Another disadvantage of carrying out these searches and enquiries is of course that if a property is found to be subject to Chancel Repair Liability then insurance cover is unlikely to be available, or at least will only be available at a much higher premium.

It is advisable (and in cases where loans are being taken out to fund a purchase, it is usually a requirement of the lender) to carry out an initial search known as a “Chancel Repair Liability Search” before an exchange of contracts. This search will indicate whether a property lies within an area which may have a potential liability to Chancel Repair, and does not definitely state that the liability attaches to the land. If a potential liability is shown in the results to this search, it is usually possible to put insurance cover in place. The cost of such insurance will vary depending on the size, location and use of the property in question.

Who is liable to make any payments?

The obligation to contribute towards the costs of repair of the chancel currently passes to a buyer automatically with the affected land, regardless of whether or not the seller of the land knows of the liability.

Following recent changes to the law, the Church of England has to ensure that land that is subject to a chancel repair liability is registered as such at H M Land Registry before 13th October 2013, and the Church is proactively pursuing this course of action at the moment. This means that land which is shown in the results of a chancel repair liability search as being located within the historical boundary of a parish which continues to have a potential chancel repair liability may eventually have an entry registered against it by or on behalf of the Church at H M Land Registry at any time before the 2013 deadline if the land is actually subject to chancel repair liability.

Summary

Unsurprisingly, this is a controversial topic, and there are pressure groups who are pushing for a change in the law to abolish the current system of Chancel Repair Liability and to replace it with a more palatable method of funding the costs of Church repair. However, in the meantime it remains very much a live issue for property owners of affected land, who may suddenly discover that the Church has registered a notice against their title to confirm that the land is subject to this liability.

December 2007