ChancelCheck® and Chancel Repair Liability FAQs
ConveyCheck® offers market leading searches and surveys requested in conveyancing transactions:
ChancelCheck® is a unique, instant, low cost screening report designed for the conveyancing professional to identify parishes where there is a continuing potential to charge for repairs to the parish church chancel.
ChancelCheck® is the only service which combines historical parish boundary data, modern Geographical Information System mapping techniques (GIS) and information derived from the relevant Inland Revenue Indices held by the National Archive.
ChancelCheck® accurately establishes whether or not a property is within a tithe district that still retains the potential to charge for the cost of repairs to the church chancel as recorded by the National Archive.
ChancelCheck® issues either a
Report stating that there is a potential liability within the parish or a
Certificate confirming that there is no risk identified for the parish.
What information do you use to create ChancelCheck®?
We have sourced our data from the relevant Inland Revenue Indices housed at the National Archive. Our historical parish boundary data is derived from the most accurate and comprehensive geo-rectified historical maps and uses modern GIS methodology to pinpoint the location of the modern property in relation to the historical parish boundaries.
Does a property need to be near a church to be liable to pay for chancel repairs?
No, this is a popular misconception. Those properties that are liable can be located anywhere within the relevant medieval historic parish boundary.
Why Use the National Archive Data?
The National Archive data is used as the industry standard data for Chancel repair searches.
Will the property documents/deeds provide details of Chancel Repair Liability?
No, not necessarily. Title documents registered with Her Majesty's Land Registry do not always include information about chancel repair liability. Chancel repair liability is what is known as an overriding interest in the land and recent case history confirms that, while an a medieval anomaly, the liability is real and must be discharged even if not on the title deeds.
What can happen if a conveyancer contacts a church directly to establish whether or not a property is liable?
This action can potentially place the church on notice about a potential liability within a parish, invalidate any insurance cover negotiated and open the conveyancer to a professional indemnity claim if the church uses the information to register the property.
What can happen if someone other than a conveyancer contacts a church directly to establish whether or not a property is liable?
This action can potentially place the church on notice about a potential liability within a parish, invalidate any insurance cover negotiated.
How does the cost compare with doing a full chancel repair search?
ChancelCheck® is £15 plus VAT. When the check indicates a potential risk for the parish in which the subject property is located we offer the
ChancelSure® Insurance solution.
ChancelSure® Insurance now offers a suite of products with up to £3m of cover for 25 years, 35 years or in perpetuity for residential property, and up to £3m of cover for 25 years for commercial property. £100,000 residential cover costs only £45.88 (inc IPT, Admin fee and VAT) this is less than half the cost of a full chancel repair search which does not provide a solution.
Why don't I just get a full chancel repair search?
In some instances this would be the appropriate form of action. However, it costs at least £100 and while it may confirm you have a liability and define the extent of that liability it does not remove it or provide any financial cover for the defined risk. Once a risk has been identified for that property, insurance will be very expensive to take out. The question is why pay twice as much and still be liable when you can pay half as much and remove the worry?
Why is ChancelSure® Insurance a good solution?
A chancel repair liability does not affect how one enjoys a property. It is a bill/cost. If you are able to take out a policy that removes this potential risk then the matter is more effectively dealt with.
ChancelSure® offers a simple and affordable "sleep easy" solution.
Who underwrites the ChancelSure® Insurance?
Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) Plc.
Does ChancelSure® Insurance cover the property, the owner/occupiers of the property or the lender?
The insurance products can cover either the homeowner/purchaser of the property and their mortgagees or the homeowner, mortgagee and successors in title.
How quickly will I get a response?
You will be emailed a
ChancelCheck® and/or
ChancelSure® Insurance within minutes.
What was the highest amount ever claimed by the Church of England for chancel repairs against an individual?
The highest recorded amount was £186,969.00 plus Costs.
How much PI cover does Conveyancing Liability Solutions Limited, the provider of the ChancelCheck® service, hold?
£10 million, underwritten by a W R Berkeley and Hiscox.
What is your Limit of Indemnity per claim?
This is dependent upon the level of cover chosen. On a standard Residential
ChancelSure® policy this can range from £100,000 to £3m.
What is Chancel Repair Liability?
Chancel repair liability only affects parishes in which there is a medieval church. The liability runs with the land and is an overriding interest. As such it does not have to have been registered against the title of a property in order to be enforceable by the Church of England - the "conveyancing trap" (Law Commission working paper 86).
In the words of Lord Scott of Foscote in the Aston Cantlow case:
"A description, even a brief one, of the law on chancel repairs must, if it is to be comprehensible, start with mediaeval times when every parish had its parish priest, the "rector". The rector had, by virtue of his office, a number of valuable proprietary rights which, collectively, constituted his "rectory". These rights included the profits of glebe land and tithes, usually one-tenth of the produce of land in the parish. Responsibility for the repair of the parish church was, absent some special custom to the contrary (see Bishop of Ely v Gibbons (1833) 4 Hagg. Ecc. 156), shared between the rector and the parishioners. The parishioners were responsible for repairing the part of the church where they sat, the western end of the church. The rector was responsible for repairing the chancel, the eastern end of the church. The rector's glebe land and tithes, the "rectory", provided both for his maintenance and a fund from which he could pay for chancel repairs."
Since the time that the rectorial property was first defined, Enclosure Acts have converted certain rectorial tithes into rectorial property thus attaching chancel repair liability to the ownership of those lands. As rectorial tithes were widespread through historical parishes, so too is the liability to pay for an apportioned amount of the chancel repair liability for that parish. It is therefore very difficult to define what land within an historical parish boundary has chancel repair liability. It is possible but requires an expensive personal search of the national Archive.
"The liability to pay for chancel repairs mainly affects rural communities, but it can apply in towns and cities {such as Brighton, Manchester, Bedford and Lancaster}, especially where ancient settlements now form part of larger urban conurbations.
Until then, homeowners should be wary because that cherished view of their local parish church just might come with a price tag attached."
Chancel Repair Liability Facts
- The Aston Cantlow v Wallbank case, where the Church "invested" approximately £250,000 to ensure that the "archaic and capricious" law relating to chancel repairs was kept alive, shows intent on the part of the Church to prosecute their rights
- The House of Lords confirmed that the law, while unfair, would stand and that those found responsible had to pay
- Even though the law was seen to be unfair and outdated, the rights of the Church to charge individuals for the cost of repair to the chancel would continue in perpetuity when the Church has "registered" their interest in the appropriate properties
- Owners of property purchased after 12th October 2013, where no registration at HMLR has taken place, will bear no risk of liability on this issue
- Parochial Church Councils are being encouraged to seek out the relevant properties
- Approximately 35% of all Parishes have the right to charge "lay rectors" and others within the parish for contributions to the cost of repair to the chancel
- The 35% represents approximately 40% of the total land area of England and Wales
- Parishes that were once in rural areas are now in the centre of cities and large towns (Fulham being an example) due to the massive growth in and migration of population to towns and cities
- The responsibility attaches to the land and that development of plots may mean that far greater numbers of homes are liable than were first thought
- The "problem" will increase over the period to October 2013
- Liable properties do not have to be adjacent to or close by a church
- The right to charge is worth 10's of millions of pounds - see note from Peterborough Diocese
- Part of the activity over the next 8 years will include actual repairs and that churches requiring repair will, logically, investigate their rights to seek payment from third parties to help pay for these repairs as part of their move toward "registering" properties
- Parish boundaries have altered significantly over recent history and so one cannot rely on current parish boundary information
- The main way of investigating the potential "risk" of chancel repair liability was a full search of the records of the National Archive costing up to £150
- For only £15 plus VAT ChancelCheck® provides an instant screening report that will confirm whether of not the subject property is within the boundary of an historical "risk" parish that could charge and/or register the subject property
- Chancel repair liability affects the title of a property and that carrying out a low cost screening report would appear to be both a "necessary and appropriate" search
Legal Position Going Forwards
The Government has acted recently on this issue and a Transitional Provisions Order covering chancel repair liability has been made and which took effect when the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force on 13th October 2003. The Order preserves the status of chancel repair liability within the Land Registration systems and for the next 10 years chancel repair liability will remain an interest that binds successive owners of a property even though it may not be protected by an entry in a register
The Land Registration Act 2002 (Transitional Provisions) (No 2) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003 No. 2431) came into force on 13 October 2003.
Liability to repair the chancel of any church was an overriding interest under section 70(1)(c) of the 1925 Act. The Order extends the overriding status of this interest for a transitional period of ten years.
After 13 October 2013 the right to enforce the liability will be capable of protection by registration of a notice. The liability will no longer constitute an overriding interest. This means a buyer for value will take free of the liability unless it is protected by a notice on the Register.
Summary of Cases and Reports
Summary of Aston Cantlow v Wallbanks Case
Mrs. Wallbank inherited a farm which was not adjacent to their parish church (St John the Baptist Church in Aston Cantlow) but it was within the parish and when they inherited the property they also inherited the liability to repair the chancel. The case went to the House of Lords and they lost.
In the words of LORD RODGER OF EARLSFERRY:
In 1986 Mrs Gail Wallbank became the owner of the freehold of Glebe Farm near the village of Aston Cantlow in Warwickshire… As owners of Glebe Farm Mr and Mrs Wallbank are the lay rectors or impropriators of the parish church and, as such, potentially liable to pay the cost of repairs to the chancel. By 1990 the chancel was in disrepair, [the Parochial Church Council ("the PCC")] simply asked Mrs Wallbank to pay for the repairs. She disputed the liability. In 1994 the PCC, as the responsible authority, served notice on Mrs Wallbank under section 2(1) of the Chancel Repairs Act 1936, calling on her to repair the chancel. When she still refused to do so, the PCC began these proceedings under section 2(2) of the 1936 Act to recover over £95,000, the estimated cost of the repairs.
In the words of LORD HOPE OF CRAIGHEAD:
The liability to repair the chancel is, [one of the incidents of ownership of] land which consists of land allotted under the inclosure award in lieu of tithe or other rectorial property. It is, of course, an unusual incident because it does not amount to a charge on the land, is not limited to the value of the land and imposes a personal liability on the owner of the land.
Case History Relevant To Chancel Repair Liability
The following cases all deal with the issue of chancel repair liability:
- Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley Parochial Church Council v Wallbank {2003} UKHL 37. View case PDF
- Wickhambrook Parochial Church Council v Croxford [1935] 2 KB 417. View case PDF
- Chivers & Sons Ltd v Air Ministry [1955] 1 Ch 585, 593. View case PDF
- Walwyn v Awberry (1677) 2 Mod. 254 {see case PDF}
- Hauxton Parochial Church Council v Mr Stephens {1929} P. 240. View case PDF
- Representative Body of the Church in Wales v Tithe Redemption Commission [1944] AC 228. View case PDF
Useful Reports On The Subject:
- Liability for Chancel Repairs (1985) (Law Com No 152) {see report PDF}
- Land Registration for the Twenty-first Century (1998) (Law Com No 254; Cm 407) {see report PDF}
- Transfer of Land, Liability for Chancel Repairs (1983) (Law Commission Working paper No 86) {see report PDF}
Useful Articles On The Subject:
- Law Gazette Articles can be found at www.lawgazette.co.uk
- There are many other articles on the subject and press articles can be found in our PRESS section.
Parochial Church Councils – their fiscal responsibilities
Click
here to download a copy of the Diocese of Rochester’s statement regarding the fiscal responsibilities of PCC members.