13 more grants for local church housing projects approved
Tolladine Mission CIO is planning to build four new starter homes in a former vicarage garden.
The Archbishops Council Housing Project’s grants committee have just awarded another round of grants to enable 13 more local church housing projects to get under way.
Since the grants scheme launched a year ago, £1,076,760 has been given away to 48 housing projects, helping them explore the practical feasibility of building homes on underused land or property, and the financial viability of potential projects.
(Read about the first round of awards here and the second round here).
Not all projects are managed by parishes directly; sometimes church members have helped to set up separate charitable entities to develop affordable housing on church land, as these two examples illustrate.
One of the projects applying for funding was St Ewe PCC in Cornwall. Truro diocese owned some glebe land in the village, which has a shortage of affordable housing for young families who want to stay in St Ewe. A few years ago the diocese sold part of the glebe to St Ewe Affordable Homes Limited (SEAHL, a non-profit company) who built 6 affordable homes there. The diocese have just agreed to sell the remaining part of the glebe site to SEAHL for another 4 social rent homes for local people, and the £25k Housing Project grant will cover costs of architect’s fees, surveys and other consultants to prepare everything for the pre-app meeting with the planning authority.
About 10 years ago, members of three parishes in Worcester set up Tolladine Mission CIO to provide affordable housing for vulnerable people in the community. They have recently purchased a surplus vicarage from the diocese and applied for planning permission to build 4 starter homes for single people or couples, which would be energy efficient and cheap to run. The planners are largely supportive, but have asked for some minor alterations to the design and a structural engineer’s survey of the land; the cost of these will be covered by the £5680 grant from the Housing Project.
Does your church have any underused land, and are you interested in providing some affordable housing as part of your mission? The next grant round will open Monday 25th May, with a deadline for applications no later than Tuesday 23rd June. For more information on how to apply, please visit https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/housing-project#na