Hot off the press, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund is now open. This is the replacement to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which was withdrawn earlier this year.
The Church of England emailed this morning to say:
We are delighted that the long-awaited Places of Worship Renewal Fund is open for business from today. Thank you for your patience and resilience over the last few months, and please read on! The announcement is on the DCMS website.
We encourage you to look closely at the information on this webpage, hosted by Historic England, which as you know, is administering the scheme. Please share it with your parishes, too. As trailed, this shows that the new Fund will focus on:
- Urgent fabric repairs
- Essential improvements: electrical upgrades, heating, toilets and step-free access
- In-year spend for four years, £23m per year
- Listed places of worship in England
We would also like to draw your attention to the following points:
- The first deadline for an Expression of Interest is 14 June 2026. Full details of the information needed, according to the size of grant requested, are on the Historic England website.
- There will be future opportunities to apply, and the next one will be September 2026.
- The Government wants the funding to reach where there is the greatest need for investment and the most community benefit.
- Cornerstone from the National Giving Team has advice and a grants database to support fundraising and we anticipate providing further information soon to help navigate the different available funding streams across the sector.
Thank you to diocesan and cathedral building colleagues who are supporting parishes and cathedrals with their projects and funding needs. This is an important government funding opportunity to seize, and we know that many parish churches and cathedrals have been preparing to submit expressions of interest. But please don’t worry if the churches you support aren’t ready right now, as there will be annual application moments to work towards over the four years of the fund.
Some types of work will attract VAT at a lower or zero rate. There is a note on the Church of England website to explain where a lower rate may be available, but each PCC or Chapter will need to take its own tax advice.