Chancel Repair for PCCs
The chancel is the East end of the church containing the altar. For historical reasons the owner of certain land has the obligation to contribute towards the maintenance of the chancel.
Very often a land owner does not know he has this liability.
A PCC can register this liability with the Land Registry. Recently the law has been changed so that, unless the liability is registered by 2013, it will be difficult and ultimately impossible to enforce the liability against a landowner.
If you want to know more about the history, please click here.
Legal Advisory Commission of the Church of England
The LAC, which is the most authoritative source of legal advice in the Church of England, advises that PCC members are charity trustees and have a duty to take reasonable steps to investigate whether a liability to repair exists in relation to any church within their parish. They may then have a duty, if such liability exists, to register it and to enforce it. However, there may be circumstances in which they should not register it or enforce it if to do so would hamper the PCC's work in terms of its mission and its ability to raise money. If the PCC felt that by registering the chancel repair liability against an individual landowner within the parish, that landowner might not respond favourably to the church's mission or may be deterred from giving the church money, then the PCC could decide not to register the liability or, if it had already registered it, not to enforce it.
If the liability is registered against an individual landowner, the value of the landowner's property will, inevitably, be reduced. A purchaser, knowing that he may have to pay for the repair of some or all of the chancel of the local parish church at some time in the future, is likely to pay less than if the property did not have that liability.
There may be some landowners who accept this liability. They may be owners of large estates who already feel an obligation to the church. There may be large companies or public utilities or government bodies that may not have a view on the church (although the people who own or direct or work for them might). Some bodies may be prepared to compound their liability by paying a sum to extinguish it.
Click here for the full text of the LAC's advice.
Responsibilities of the PCC
To comply with this advice a PCC must investigate the liability. You need to answer these questions.
Is there any chancel repair liability for the parish?
To answer this you need to see the Record of Ascertainments, a record of the liability in the 1930s. Some PCCs will have an amateur historian who may be prepared to obtain a copy from the County Records Office.
Other PCCs may want professional help. Capital and Country Searches have put together a package to produce basic information. This search will cost £55 + VAT and disbursements, usually a total of about £80.
Click here for Who are the researchers?
The Record of Ascertainments for your parish is a list of tithe numbers shown on the tithe map which are subject to chancel repair liability, with an amount of money (in old money - pounds, shillings and pence) against each number.
Click here for a copy of the Record of Ascertainments for the parish of Feock as an example.
Tithe maps were produced in the 19th century to record tithes payable. Each plot of land shown on it is numbered with a tithe number. You can identify the land which has the liability by finding the tithe numbers from the Record of Ascertainments on the map.
The map can usually be consulted in the County Records Office by appointment (01872 323 127). You are not normally allowed to photocopy it but you can make a tracing or take a digital photograph of it. Or there may be a copy in your parish safe. Occasionally the County Record Office has made a CD of a parish's tithe map which you can buy.
Having done this you will have a list of plot numbers of land that is the subject of the liability and a 19th century plan showing their location.
Click on the text below for further information:
If there is a liability is it worth investigating?
Investigating the value of the chancel repair liability
If there is liability, should the PCC register it?
Should we obtain advice from the Charity Commission?
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