Labour has been told to restore a crucial scheme to its full capacity as some of the UK’s historic churches remain at risk. Friends of Friendless Churches urged Rachel Reeves to get rid of a cap to the listed places for worship grant scheme, which gave relief to places of worship on their VAT bills. It said in a video online: “In the UK, you could demolish a church VAT-free. But if you wanted to repair that church, you would have to pay VAT.”
It added: “This is such an absurd situation that we find ourselves in, so we are desperately hoping that later this month, when the Budget is announced, the Government will restore that scheme to its full capacity.” On April 1 2025, a new annual cap of £25,000 per listed place of worship was implemented. In a blog post, Friends of Friendless Churches added that the status quo “clearly sets the tone for what this Government values”, in that development is “prized higher than heritage” and historic churches are treated as the “poor relation”.
Marcus Walker, a Church of England clergyman in the Diocese of London, wrote on X: “Every time a church goes through the massive effort of fundraising to repair the fabric of a listed building they are saving a piece of Britain’s heritage without the Government having to lift a finger. The least the Government can do is not charge us VAT on top.”
It comes as 976 churches, chapels, meeting houses and cathedrals are included on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Register.
Sir Philip Rutnam, Chair of the National Churches Trust, said earlier this month: “These statistics should be an alarm bell for the Government – now is the moment to act to save these important buildings before they fall even more into disrepair.
“Once these buildings are gone, they are gone forever. There is no second chance to rescue them.
“The fact that all the political parties have numerous buildings at risk in their constituencies shows that this is a cross-party issue – something they can unite on.”
The Government says it has extended the grant scheme until March 31, 2026, with a budget of £23million.
“This will continue to enable religious organisations to claim grants covering eligible VAT costs paid towards repairs and renovations,” officials say on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) website.
“To ensure the scheme remains within budget, a new cap will be introduced, limiting the total amount of any individual place of worship can claim to £25,000 in the coming year.
“Places of worship can make more than one claim, but the total of their claims should not exceed £25,000.”
