A new Private Members’ Bill to ‘end the liability of lay rectors for the repair of chancels’ has been introduced into Parliament.
Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Avebury put the new legislation forward on July 16 to stop landowners having to fund repairs for their parish church.
In an article by the Law Gazette, Lord Avebury said: ‘Thousands of landowners’ titles are still today blighted by chancel repair liability, this relic of mediaeval ecclesiastical law. Titles that have been registered by the Church with the Land Registry are those most likely to be adversely affected.
‘This generally leads to a distressing reduction in value and even an impairment of saleability, even though the church never enforces the liability.’
