HERITAGE funding for the 14,000 listed places of worship in England, including cathedrals, is to come in upfront capital grants, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced. Those in areas of high deprivation and “facing overwhelming fund-raising challenges” would be prioritised, it said on Wednesday.
The new Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF) succeeds the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS), under which places of worship could reclaim all the VAT paid on repairs and maintenance. Last year, the LPWGS was capped at £25,000 for each place of worship, meaning that those undertaking major repairs — such as a new roof — had to raise extra funds to cover VAT costs for the first time in two decades (News, 25 January 2025).
The new PWRF grant scheme is to be delivered by Historic England and is intended to bring places of worship in line with other heritage buildings. It has been influenced by the success of the Heritage at Risk and the Heritage Revival Funds, and, in targeting areas of greatest need, puts the emphasis on the community, DCMS says.
The DCMS’s own evaluation of the LPWGS suggested that, without access to a full VAT rebate, 80 per cent of applicants may have delayed or downgraded projects, but would still have undertaken the works. Churches that had struggled to raise funds upfront in the first place described the new cap as “an insurmountable financial barrier” to crucial repairs.
Allocated funding for PWRF is £92 million, to be evenly divided over a four-year term. It is designed to support a range of projects, from urgent structural repairs, physical access improvements, and the installation of new facilities to expand community use, such as disabled access or upgrading kitchen facilities.
The Heritage Minister, Baroness Twycross, launched the new fund, and opened the second round of the Heritage at Risk and the Heritage Revival Funds, during visits to Grimsby Minster and the Sir Moses Montefiore Synagogue, Grimsby, on Wednesday, where she met volunteers who care for the sites.
“Across our country, 1000-year-old Norman church towers sit at the heart of communities, with brick mills and other former industrial buildings, all too often needing significant repair to bring them back to their former glory and create community assets for the future,” she said.
“So many of these heritage sites are cared for by volunteers or community groups, and our significant heritage funding schemes are designed to back their ambitions. This targeted funding is an important step in keeping the roofs watertight and doors wide open at churches, and for bringing historic buildings back into use for the communities who care for them.”
The Bishop of Lynn, in the diocese of Norwich, the Rt Revd Jane Steen, who is the Church’s joint lead bishop for buildings, said: “Our church buildings are national treasures for the common good, both for their spiritual, cultural, and historical significance, and the vital practical help they provide communities across the country. We welcome the launch of the fund and we look forward to working closely with Historic England in helping encourage eligible churches to make full use of this scheme.”
Heritage at Risk offers capital funding of up to £15 million, and the Heritage Revival Fund offers up to £10 million. All three funds are open to listed places of worship and heritage sites in England. The devolved administrations will operate under the Barnett formula, aimed at guaranteeing fair distribution of government funding.
The scheme was outlined in January. Bodies such as the National Churches Trust and the Cathedrals and Church Buildings Department welcomed the introduction of capital funding, but raised concern about the full cost of VAT now to be paid, where museums and galleries were exempt, and that local fund-raisers would be put under further pressure (News, 23 January).