£30,000 Spent, Then Told to Go: A 400-Member Dagenham Church Must Leave a Former Synagogue So Homes Can Be Built

• International Gospel of Truth Church was told to vacate its Becontree Avenue building by 29 March 2019
• Barking and Dagenham Council plans to demolish the former synagogue to build new homes
• The congregation says it spent more than £30,000 improving the building
• A 2017 council report had found a need for more space for faith groups

A congregation of around 400 people in Dagenham, east London, spent the early weeks of 2019 pleading with its council landlord for more time. The International Gospel of Truth Church had been worshipping in a former synagogue on Becontree Avenue, and Barking and Dagenham Council wanted the building back so it could be demolished and replaced with new homes. The church was given until 29 March 2019 to leave, Premier reported.

The pastor, Rev Sylvester Opoku Manu, said the church had put more than £30,000 into the building, paying for heating, air conditioning and new carpets. Moving on would mean losing that investment and finding the money to fit out somewhere else. He argued that the congregation’s presence had helped reduce local crime through its youth work and outreach. “We have organised a youth programme and we go for street evangelism. Every Tuesday, we have breakfasts for counselling,” he said.

The council’s position was that the church had always known the arrangement was temporary. It said the pastor was aware the letting would be short-term and had signed a tenancy agreement at will, knowing the building was earmarked for demolition. The lease had expired in January 2019, after which the church stayed on a month-to-month basis.

The dispute carried an awkward contradiction. A report commissioned by the same council in 2017 had identified a need for additional space for faith groups, particularly Muslim groups and Christian groups outside the traditional denominations. Yet one such congregation was being moved on to make room for housing.

The story captures a squeeze familiar to many newer churches in London: councils need land for homes, and short-term lettings of empty buildings are often the only premises growing congregations can afford. Money spent improving a building the church does not own can be lost when the lease ends.

Many Jamaican and Caribbean-heritage churches in Britain started out in exactly this position, renting halls and spending their own money on buildings they did not control. For congregations in Jamaica, and for diaspora members supporting church building funds at home, the Dagenham case is a practical warning: before investing in repairs or fit-outs, know how secure the tenancy is and what happens to that money if the landlord takes the building back.

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