Church Property

Catbells

I have been really lucky and through word of mouth have managed to rent a vacant vicarage for a vastly reduced rent while I look for another house to buy. Its quite spartan as you might expect but has warmth, security and is big so I can store my furniture and save £400 a month on this alone. Its helpful to have it occupied and secure for the time it will be empty. I am over the moon and wanted to share!!! :j

Maybe more people could go to the church authority and ask if there are any rental properties. I remember hearing years ago that the church were wealthy property owners.

Doozergirl

Good for you!

There's a great big empty vicarage across the road from me if anyone fancies being neighbours

Running_Horse

Well they just sold the vicarage in my childhood village for £1,800,000, and it needed restoration.

From memory Jools Holland got Cooling Castle and Rod Hull got a quaint old cottage (before he died) from the National Trust at very reasonable prices.

LydiaJ

Catbells wrote: »

I have been really lucky and through word of mouth have managed to rent a vacant vicarage for a vastly reduced rent while I look for another house to buy. Its quite spartan as you might expect but has warmth, security and is big so I can store my furniture and save £400 a month on this alone. Its helpful to have it occupied and secure for the time it will be empty. I am over the moon and wanted to share!!! :j

Maybe more people could go to the church authority and ask if there are any rental properties. I remember hearing years ago that the church were wealthy property owners.

Sounds like you are onto a good thing, Catbells. The church (at least, the C of E) has a lot of properties, but is short of money, so I'm not surprised they're open to deals like this.

A word of advice for anyone thinking of enquiring about this: don't bother approaching individual parish churches - they don't own their vicarages and won't be able to let them to you. The place to ask will be the diocesan offices, usually located in the nearest cathedral city. Individual parish churches will of course be able to tell you which diocese you're in, and the contact details for the admin offices.

iolanthe07

It is common policy to let vicarages because vacancies can last for years due to lack of money and shortage of vicars. They tend to be draughty and large, if old, and built on the cheap with low cost fittings if new. Also, many of them are located next door to the church, so expect a lot of unwelcome callers at all hours of the day and night, who will not believe you when you tell them that you are not a vicar.

BornAtTheRightTime

Congrats, how exciting!

iolanthe07 wrote: »

expect a lot of unwelcome callers at all hours of the day and night, who will not believe you when you tell them that you are not a vicar.

IF you find that happens, just get a house sign made up "The Old Vicarage". That should deter most people.

jenny74

We are members of the Methodist Church and until a month ago our Manse was let out for about 4/5 years. We have a shortage of Ministers which means that not all of the Manse's are habited. Our last Minister was married to another Minister and they and their family lived in the Manse next to her husband's church, which was why it was let out originally. She moved on just over a year ago, and we have been without a Minister since. Our new one is due at the beginning of Sept. He and his family will be moving into the newly decorated Manse..

Sorry when off track a bit. But what I meant to say is that our properties are managed locally, unlike the Cof E Vicarages. (I think Baptist Churchs are as well) So it is worth checking with other dinominations (sorry sp?) as well as Cof E.

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Catbells

Doozergirl wrote: »

Good for you!

There's a great big empty vicarage across the road from me if anyone fancies being neighbours

All you need is to be on the electoral register, and know people in the area who can vouch for you and your character. I already had a CRB I think its called (police check) on account of the work I do and have lived in the area for 18 years or more. Am not a church goer and will have to hide the empties round the back!!!:)

I hope I don't get too many people knocking on the door though!!

clutton_2

the bells... the bells..... i once lived next to an active bell-ringing church ... drove me mad........

Pennylane

It's not just the C of E church who is rich.

Some years ago we sold our house to an evangelical church for one of their Ministers and his family to live in. We got top whack for that and the sale went through like a dream!:D

They visited the day after the For Sale sign went up and I had expected it to be on the market for months. The Minister came in and said his church had told him to chooose what he liked and this would suit him and his large family fine.

I thought they were joking when they rang up straight away and said they would have it for the full asking price.

Arthritic_Toe

Catbells wrote: »

Maybe more people could go to the church authority and ask if there are any rental properties. I remember hearing years ago that the church were wealthy property owners.

Assume you mean the church commission. They are wealthy property owners. It really p's me off being asked to contribute to the upkeep of local churches, when they are sitting on these vast assets. Its a bit like having a whip-round when Sir Alan Sugar needs a new car.