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Chancel Repair Searches

Parochial Church, Council of Aston, Cantelow and Others-Vs-Wallbank

The Wallbanks’ lost their battle to avoid paying almost £100,000 towards the repair of their local Parish Church.

The liability arose when Mrs Wallbank's father left them a farm, part of which had previously been church land. This made the Wallbanks lay impropriators and as such liable to pay towards the repair of the chancel to the Parish Church.

The House of Lords overturned the Court of Appeal and ruled that the Human Rights Act did not apply to the Wallbanks case and that they were liable to pay the monies due, which with legal costs is estimated at double the total liability.

A transitional provisions order covering Chancel Repair liability has been made and took effect when the Land Registration Act 2002 came into force in October 2003.

This ruling could serve to encourage other Church Councils to pursue Chancel Repair obligations more vigorously in the future. Chancel Repair liability can only affect land within a Church of England Parish which has a Vicar (not a Rector) and a medieval or pre-medieval church.

FastSearch can help assess potential risks by conducting a search to ascertain whether your or your client’s property could be subject to Chancel Repair liability.

Last modified: 10/19/09