Feltwell
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Now if the money the church was going to spend on this was spent on housing the homeless or some other similarly worthwhile project then that would have been some interesting period propertys right there.
If the churches were to sell off all their assets and put all their money into poverty then they really would be doing some good in this world.
If the churches were to sell off all their assets and put all their money into poverty then they really would be doing some good in this world.
Keithj
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The only asset the church has here is a Grade 1 listed building that costs us great effort to keep in reasonable nick. You want to buy it?
MatthewC
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Now, if the Church of England was ALLOWED to sell off some of its historic buildings, that would be welcomed by most church-goers. The C of E has something like 80% of all Grade I listed buildings in the UK and, although you call them "assets", they would actually have a negative value in a balance sheet as they cannot be sold but require a huge influx of funds to maintain. We have no choice about this continual drain on resources, and I for one would far rather that we did fundraising for the homeless etc instead of maintaining old buildings.robgil said:
Keithj
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robgil said:
It is allowed to sell them off, and often does. Look around rural parts at the number of "des reses" called "The Old Rectory" or "The Old Vicarage".
The difficulty is that very few people want to buy Grade 1 listed churches. They're not often allowed to convert them into living accommodation, and the maintenance costs are eye-watering. Ask the congregation and churchwardens of almost any listed church in a small village.
The real purpose of the Church (at least, of the C of E which is the one I know) isn't to maintain a portfolio of ancient buildings. That's just something we've accumulated as a result of a long history. Nor is the church primarily a source of charitable funding for the poor, although that is one of its regular activities.
MatthewC
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Yes, I meant historic buildings like listed churches These can only be disposed of when they are redundant and that's when people find out how hard it is to make a house out of a church when they are limited by its listed status! Imagine though the outcry if the hurch wanted to sell off S Paul's...robgil said:
Other buildings do get sold, but some really crass decisions are often made, like selling at the bottom of a boom or like this one: near here the church owned a barn with some land which was used for parking. About twenty years ago someone decided to make the barn into a parish hall with offices, and so sold off the land for flats to pay for it. Now it would be nice to sell the barn/offices/hall and get the cash to repair the church, but guess what? There's no land apart from the building and a narrow path, so there's no vehicle access and it's squashed between new flats and the cemetery... :roll:
Gareth Hughes
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But they do get sold off, and they do get converted (often rather atrociously, sometimes quite well):
http://www.locationworks.com/library.php?cat=1309
http://www.locationworks.com/library.php?cat=1309