Churches in Southampton have warned that government cuts to listed building funding have come at “the worst time” for them, as they experience a real-terms cut of £19,000.
Listed church buildings were previously able to claim money for repairs from a pot of £45 million. The scheme was planned to be scrapped altogether – but the Labour government kept it – albeit reduced to £23 million.
This has given churches a new cap of £25,000 per year for repairs.
Rev Daron Medway from Holy Trinity Weston tells the Daily Echo that his church is in the 4% of England’s most deprived places of worship. He warned that depleting the scheme will “limit the facilities that the local church can provide to its community.”
Rev Garry Roberts, vicar of St Mary’s, Sholing, said that the change in funding allowance “could not have come at a worse time” for his Grade II listed church. The congregation will now have to raise an extra £33,000 to maintain its building.
He said: “Our building is in desperate need of an upgraded heating system, and improvements for people with accessibility needs, and the ability to have different groups running simultaneously to meet the community demand for cheap rentable space for other agencies and private bookings such as family parties.
“As a church, we have been working hard to raise funds to complete works totalling £350,000. The Parish Church is a charity, and is funded solely by the kind donations of church members, small rental income for hiring our building and the generosity of the wider community supporting our fundraising."
However, government data suggest that 94% of claims in previous years were below the new cap of £25,000.
Heritage Minister Sir Chris Byrant said he is pleased that the scheme is able to continue in some form, despite its tighter budget: "I am delighted that despite the tough fiscal challenges we face, we are able to keep this scheme going for a further year to support faith buildings in every part of the country."