We are pleased to offer two grant funds to support repairs and improvements to church buildings.
The Missional Property Fund provides grants of up to £20,000 towards the repair or improvement of church buildings which makes the building fit for identified mission and ministry needs.
The Minor Repairs and Improvements Grants are small grants of up to £20,000 for urgent and necessary repair or improvement projects on their church buildings.
On this page we cover:
Top tips for applications
Missional Property Fund Grants
Minor Repairs and Improvements Grants
Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Grants
Top Tips for Applicants:
- Read the guidance and ensure you are applying at the right time for your project, that you have the information you need, and will be able to complete the work within the timescales indicated
- Check if you need a faculty or List B approval, and if you do, contact to the Diocesan Advisory Committee Secretary or DAC Assistant
- Wherever possible you should have support in principle from the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) before applying for a grant. The DAC Secretary or Assistant may be able to help with this for applications received after the deadline for March DAC meeting.
- You can only apply to one fund, so work out which is the most appropriate to your needs
Missional Property Fund
The Missional Property Fund was established with a primary aim to support projects which allow parishes to open up church buildings for mission. The Fund has been made possible by generous support from Marshalls Charity.
Please see examples of reordering case studies from Rochester and Canterbury dioceses here
Missional Property Fund Grants
In 2025 the Missional Property Fund will make grants of up to £20,000 to repair or improve church buildings, where this will enable the mission plans for the area.
Grants are given towards the repair or improvement of church buildings. Grants have been given in the past for:
- roof repairs
- tower repairs
- stonework
- church floors
- new heating and lighting*
- new toilets
- adaptations for disabled access
- reordering including kitchen facilities, as long as they are within the footprint of the church
- sound systems
- rewiring
- mullions (not glazing)
* The Trustees would like to encourage churches to consider installing heating systems based on renewable technologies (e.g. air source heat pumps) or micro-generation of electricity. An application for such a system is likely to be considered for the maximum possible grant.
We do not give grants for:
- professional fees
- works outside the footprint of the church, including:
- church halls
- external meeting rooms and facilities
- church grounds
- boundary walls and fences
- redecoration including re-gilding
- bells
- organs
- clocks
- monuments
- brasses
- stained glass
Please note that this fund is only able to make grants to Anglican Parish Churches. The Fund is run with the support of Marshalls Charity. The Trustees will never award a grant for more than the amount requested, so you should ask for what you need.
The same church must not reapply within 3 years of a previous grant whether successful or unsuccessful. There should be at least 1 communion service a month held at the church. Grants need to be claimed within 2 years of being awarded.
Parishes applying for the Fund must have a project which:
- Has a positive impact on the local community
- Takes into account the volume of other community facilities in the area
- Has support in principle from the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC)
And in addition, meets the following criteria:
- Makes the building fit for identified mission and ministry needs
- Increases accessibility, including to people with disabilities, and those with young children
- Enables new use for a property which otherwise is at risk of closure or disrepair
If you are invited to proceed to the second stage, you will need to upload copies of the church accounts for the past three years. You may also wish to provide other documents to support your application, for example:
- your Mission Action Plan
- recent church newsletter
- parish magazines
- financial accounts
If you meet the criteria please complete a stage one application form. Please note, there is one round of applications per year, and applications for 2025 are now closed.
Minor Repairs and Improvements Grants
Funded by the national church’s Buildings for Mission project, these are small grants to parishes for urgent and necessary repair or improvement projects on their church buildings.
Grants of up to £20,000 can be made towards projects with a maximum cost of up to £20,000 (or £24,000 for unlisted churches who are unable to reclaim the VAT under the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) grant scheme) at a rate of up to 90%.
Grants will be targeted and prioritised according to the circumstances of the parish. It is expected that parishes will supply an element of partnership funding from their own resources.
So that the appropriate level of grant can be assessed consistently, according to the indices of multiple deprivation by ecclesiastical parish as shown in the Church of England Parish Map the following scale for grant rates is used:
- Deprivation rank 6,236 to 12,307 – grant @ 50%
- Deprivation rank 5,012 to 6,235 – grant @ 60%
- Deprivation rank 3,812 to 5,011 – grant @ 70%
- Deprivation rank 2,558 to 3,811 – grant @ 80%
- Deprivation rank 1,232 to 2,557 – grant @ 90%
- Deprivation rank 1 to 1,231 – grant @ 90% (or more if exceptionally justified)
The panel may consider that there is a case for a different rate than those shown above in exceptional circumstances.
The panel may consider urgent needs outside the cycle of published meeting dates.
If you are unsuccessful you may reapply in a future funding round.
Grant conditions
- The offer of a grant from the Fund does not remove the requirement for the PCC to obtain faculty or approval under list A or B, as necessary, or any other necessary permission before the work goes ahead. The offer of a grant does not imply support for the proposal for the purposes of faculty or any other approval and does not indicate that permission will be forthcoming. Wherever possible you should have support in principle from the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) before applying for a grant.
- Work should not begin until the diocese has approved the scope, methodology and costs of the work and made an offer in writing which the PCC has accepted.
- Work costing more than £1,000 will need to be subject to some form of competitive procurement (normally by obtaining itemised quotations for comparison) on a best value basis. A full competitive tender exercise will not be required unless the nature of the work or other factors make it necessary.
- Work will need to be carried out, paid for and claimed within a year of the offer date or by 31 December 2025, whichever is the sooner.
- Additions, alterations or adaptations specifically to overcome building design defects or obsolescence (e.g. undersized hoppers or drainpipes) or to improve access for maintenance.
- Additions, alterations or adaptations where essential to improve physical access, e.g. handrails, ramps etc.
- Improvements to building services installations where essential to sustain worship and mission use, such as improvements to heating, lighting, wiring, kitchens, WCs. Where necessary, this might include the installation or upgrading of pipework or cabling to the perimeter of the churchyard or curtilage.
- New installations or improvements to existing installations for digital connectivity, whether through a wired connection or 4G/5G mobile Wi-Fi, where essential to sustain worship and mission use.
- Bat mitigation measures, including relevant ecologists’ fees and production of a bat management plan, where the impact of bats is a barrier to worship and mission use. A one-off deep clean can be an eligible cost as part of a mitigation plan.
- Professional fees to design, specify, inspect and certify the repair or improvement work.
- Ecologist’s fees to prepare a bat management plan.
- VAT (for unlisted churches and work to listed churches which falls outside the eligibility of the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) grant scheme). It will be assumed that PCCs will apply to the LPW grant scheme wherever possible.
- Routine maintenance, as set out in the Calendar of Care.
- Routine cleaning.
- Work to furnishings, such as bells and bell frames, books and manuscripts, church plate, clocks, monumental brasses and decorative metalwork, monuments, organs, paintings and wall paintings, stained glass, textiles, wooden objects. These may qualify for the grants administered by ChurchCare (see Grants for historic church interiors and churchyard structures | The Church of England).
- Conservation reports. These may qualify for the grants administered by ChurchCare (see Grants for conservation reports | The Church of England).
- Routine inspection (Quinquennial Inspections, periodic inspection of electrical installations, appliance testing, gas safety checks, etc).
- Routine servicing of building services installations.
- Any work covered by insurance.
If you meet the criteria, please complete an application form. There is a rolling application process, of which you will be advised when you submit your application.
Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Grants
The Diocese of Rochester will distribute a small number of grants, totalling approximately £ 48,850, to help parishes on their way to net zero carbon. The focus is on reducing the energy footprint of buildings such as churches and halls by completing works that will support their journey towards net-zero carbon.
Projects up to £3000 can be covered in full by this grant.
For projects over £3000, grants will (in addition to the £3000) cover 50% of the excess. The maximum grant is £10,000 per church/church hall.
Example:
If a total project cost is £12000, you can apply for £7500 (£3000 + 50% of £9000)
The application deadline is 31 August 2025, but applications will be reviewed in batches, on a rolling basis, so that available funding may run out before this date.
To be considered for the grant, the building must have the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT) completed for the last full calendar year, and the church must be at least ‘registered’ for the A Rocha Eco Church scheme.
Types of projects include:
- Increasing energy efficiency
- Decarbonising heating and lighting
- Temporary heating solutions
- Electrical upgrades
A full list of eligible projects and grant conditions can be found here.
How to apply
Download the application form here.
You can apply at any time, and our Diocesan Panel will aim to make a decision as soon as possible. Funds need to be given to parishes by the end of 2025.
You can also register your interest by emailing netzero@rochester.anglican.org, and our Net Zero Adviser can support you through the process.
The grant scheme is administered by the Net Zero Adviser, and the decision-making panel consists of the Archdeacons, DAC Secretary, Diocesan Secretary and the Net Zero Team.
In the meantime, start preparing for your application with these first steps:
- Complete your Energy Footprint Tool data for the church buildings.
- Download and complete the Practical Pathway to Net Zero Carbon to generate a carbon reduction plan. This is especially so if you do not already have a church decarbonisation plan.
- Perhaps you would like to explore becoming an Eco Church.
Please note: If there is a higher demand for the grant than there is funding available, applications will be prioritised by looking at the potential carbon savings and the church deprivation rank.
Key contacts
Carol GoodmanExecutive Assistant to Diocesan Secretary
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