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Property owned by the Church of England

Various Church bodies and institutions hold property, and their ability to deal with it is often restricted by law. Here are details of the principal types of Church property that the Legal Office most often encounters in its work for the National Church Institutions, as well as links to FAQs on dealings with ecclesiastical land and with property owned by the Church Commissioners.

  • Parsonages
    The residences of rectors and vicars, owned by the rector or vicar as 'benefice property'.
  • Glebe
    Owned by a Diocesan Board of Finance as an investment, returns being used to provide money to pay the stipends of parochial clergy in the diocese. Further information about the work of the Church Commissioners' Pastoral Division in relation to parsonages and glebe is available here or by emailing pastoral@c-of-e.org.uk.
  • Churches and churchyards
    Generally owned by the rector or vicar as 'Church property' (as opposed to the parsonage, which is 'benefice property') and maintained by the Parochial Church Council.
  • Closed churches
    Following a statutory process to remove the legal effects of consecration, the Church Commissioners or a Diocesan Board of Finance may dispose of a redundant church for a suitable alternative use. Further information is available about the work of the Church Commissioners' Closed Churches Division here.
  • Investment or corporate property
    This may be owned by Church of England bodies at national, diocesan and parochial levels. Information about the Church Commissioners' corporate property may be found here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dealings with ecclesiastical land

Dealings with Church Commissioners property