Up to £25,000 per Parish: A £3.2 Million Church Fund to Turn Church Land Into Affordable Homes

• The Church of England opened a £3.2 million grants fund for parishes exploring housing on their land
• Grants of up to £25,000 cover architects, consultants and planning costs
• The scheme follows the Coming Home report on the housing crisis
• A Preston church replaced a 60-year-old hall with 14 affordable homes and a new centre

In April 2025 the Church of England opened a grants scheme to help parishes find out whether their land could provide homes. Premier Christian News reported that the £3.2 million fund would offer grants of up to £25,000 per application to cover the professional fees needed to test an idea, including architects, consultants and the costs of navigating planning.

The Church said the grants were part of a wider £4.25 million programme over five years, following the 2021 Coming Home report from the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community, which called on the Church to respond to the housing crisis.

Beki Winter, who leads the Church’s housing project team, said many parishes did not see the opportunity in front of them. “Many parishes have issues with their buildings or property, but don’t always realise these problems could be opportunities to provide some housing,” she said. In the Church’s own announcement she gave examples: an outdated church hall could be rebuilt with a few flats above it, or a surplus car park could become social homes. Richard Sudworth, director of faith and public life, called the initiative “a simple response to a biblical mandate”.

The model project was St Martin’s Church in Fulwood, Preston, where the site of a 60-year-old parish hall was redeveloped into 14 affordable homes and a new energy-efficient parish centre. Project manager Canon Andrea Titterington said it met “twin objectives” of housing and worship.

The lesson for Jamaica is the small first step. Some Jamaican churches hold halls, lots and car parks that are underused, but many cannot easily pay for the feasibility studies needed to find out what is possible. A modest fund for surveyors, architects and planning advice, whether from a denomination, a diaspora association or a housing agency, could help congregations test whether a tired hall or spare lot could become a few rental units or homes for church families.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com