This is a liability on the owner of a property to contribute a sum of money to the repair of the chancel of the parish church, and virtually any property in England and Wales could be subject to it.

It is an historical anomaly, but it is still very much alive today.  It dates from medieval times, when wealthy landowners would pay for the upkeep of the chancel.  Unfortunately even though these estates of land may have now been broken down into many thousands of properties the liability has stayed with the land.  What is more, the land does not have to be rural (Fulham is one parish well-known to have the potential for liability), nor even anywhere near a church.

There is also a very real risk that a church might decide to pursue a claim, as the owners of a field in Warwickshire discovered in a case which went to the House of Lords in 2003 (Wallbank -v- Aston Cantlow).  The parish church stuck doggedly to its claim that they were entitled to a payment just short of £200,000 from Mr and Mrs Wallbank, and ultimately the House of Lords could do nothing but agree.

The Government has stepped in with legislation that churches have until October 2013 to prove definitively that they do have the ability to demand payment, and if so they have to register this with the Land Registry.  After October 2013 the position will be clear with a simple search at the Land Registry.

Until then, the main problem when investigating a property to buy is that it cannot be established beyond doubt whether there is liability or not, as Church records are not centralised and could not therefore be definitively searched.

However, what we can do is find out if the parish in question has a recorded history of the risk of liability.  This much has been established, and such a search is quick and simple.  If it shows no risk of liability then the property is clear.

If it shows a risk of liability, this is easily dealt with by specialist insurance which we can arrange.  The premium depends on the value of the property, but will usually be in the region of £60 to £150.  Obtaining insurance will be a requirement of your mortgage lender if you have one, and it can be a “once and for all” policy which covers subsequent owners of the property.  So this means not only are you insured, but also that when you come to sell the property you can simply hand over the policy to the buyer.