St John’s, Radlett

Built in 1953 as a daughter church of Christ Church, Radlett, St John’s served the post-war community on land donated by Lady Phillimore for a school, hall, and church. By the 2010s, the temporary buildings had become unfit for use, though community groups and a nursery continued to make good use of them.

A redevelopment was proposed to provide modern facilities for worship, community use, and housing. The treasurer of the PCC was also a local councillor, responsible for Hertsmere Borough Council’s Finance and Property. He identified council funds earmarked for affordable housing through Section 106 agreements that hadn’t been spent.

Negotiations between the parish, diocese, and the Council produced plans for a new church with nursery and community rooms, plus six affordable homes. The capital receipt for selling part of the freehold to the Council would fund the new church buildings.

A covenant limiting the land to religious use was renegotiated with the Phillimore Trust, who agreed on condition the homes remained affordable in perpetuity. The nursery team helped shape the designs to meet Ofsted standards, and TSG Building Services delivered the construction.
The old church closed in July 2021; worship and community groups continued to meet in a Portakabin until the new buildings were completed. The new church was dedicated in October 2023, and residents moved into the homes in 2024–25.

St John’s now hosts six services a year, while the new hall is in constant use. Watford Community Housing manages three affordable flats and two shared ownership houses; a third family house was retained by the Council for temporary accommodation. Hall hire income exceeded targets after just a year, and this covers the cost of administrating the space and maintenance of the building.

The £3.28m project was fully funded by Hertsmere Borough Council through Section 106 money for social housing. A budget shortfall of £324k was met from the Local Authority Housing Fund. No parish reserves had to be used.

- A town councillor on the PCC unlocked vital local authority funding, without which the project would not have gone ahead

- The project met the council’s obligation to deliver affordable housing.

- Good building project management ensured continuity of worship and community use, so no hirers had to be turned away.

- The main challenge came from the covenant restriction which required complex negotiation.

St John’s now has a modern worship and community centre, a thriving nursery, and six affordable homes—providing stability for local families and long-term sustainability for the church.