Church of England Housing

The Church of England (CoE) – one of the UK’s richest landowners – has been told it must lead by example to tackle the housing crisis and develop affordable housing.

That’s the message from a Housing Commission set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury which published the ‘Coming Home’ report which looked at the how the CoE could help unlock land to build new homes. It states the CoE should act “immediately” to build affordable homes on land highlighted for development which could see the delivery of 28,500 new homes – of which around 8,600 will be affordable.

The Church of England – who’re speaking at our Housing & Build to Rent Conference – own more than 81,000 hectares of lands and although a large proportion is unsuitable for development a major mapping process has highlighted some significant areas for development. The report highlights those sites should be brought forward for affordable housing –

Graham Tomlin, The Bishop of Kensington and Vice-Chair of the 10-person housing commission said: “The Church as landowners has a crucial part of play in tackling the housing crisis. We can take a lead in providing affordable housing where we can.”

Other suggestions in the report suggest that the legal framework for selling church assets should be amended so church land and buildings can be used for social and environmental, as well as economic benefit. In addition “glebe land” which is required by church law to be held to fund clergy salaries should available to dispose of for appropriate missional purposes.

Tomlin added: “It’s not right that 8 million people in England live in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes. Whole sections of our society, including people of all ages, are affected by the housing crisis, but those caught in poverty bear the brunt of this injustice. It’s time for a bold, coherent, long-term housing strategy focused on those in greatest need. The answer is not just building more homes, which end up in the private rented sector, but truly affordable homes. The definition of affordability must be linked to people’s incomes rather than discounting the market rate.”

The Church of England will be represented at the Housing & Build to Rent Conference by Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani – Bishop for Housing. You can register here: https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/housing-build-to-rent-conference/