United Reformed Church

The URC Church Buildings Fund (CBF)

Guidance Notes relating to Grant and Loans from the Church Buildings Fund

REVISED AIMS

In 2025 the Resources Committee agreed to revise the aims of the Church Building Fund, to:

  • To support the denomination’s goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2030
  • To act as a stimulus and encouragement for churches to reduce their energy consumption and hence their carbon footprint and engage with Net Zero

OVERVIEW

The CBF grants and loans are applicable to all church buildings ‘owned’ by a church/congregation. However, if the buildings are not held in trust by the Synod please check if the Synod is allowed to invest in them. Please contact John Samson for further advice. ‘Church buildings’ include church halls, but not manses. Churches can apply for both a grant and a loan for a project where the total cost exceeds the likely grant.

Forms can be submitted by the church or the Synod on their behalf. If they are submitted by the church, they must be accompanied by the relevant Synod approval. All forms should be submitted together with relevant plans and cost estimates, together with the latest accounts giving both income/expense and balance sheet statements. Completed forms should be sent to Jacqueline Watson at [email protected]. Also contact Jacqueline for any further information or queries.

GRANTS

Principles

  1. CBF capital as well as income will be used to fund grants; there is a willingness to invest more than £1,000,000 each year
  2. Grants will only be made for Synod approved and jointly funded schemes
  3. We welcome applications for tactical, net energy reduction projects with paybacks of 10 years or less (principally LED lights, smart controllers, solar panels, batteries and insulation). The one exception to this 10-year payback principle will be for heat pumps.
  4. Better resourced Synods are expected to fund a bigger percentage of project costs than the less well-resourced Synods. It is recognised that even well-resources Synods may have funding limitations which is why the percentage support remains a Synod decision.
  5. Unless a church has minimal reserves, they will be expected to contribute some funding to the project.
  6. The CBF is a restricted fund, that at present does not include manses within its restrictions. This is being investigated, but for the time being applications for manse projects will not be considered.

Operation

  1. CBF grants are given to enable churches to meet their obligation to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, or as soon after as possible. While the works involved in reducing a church’s carbon footprint may be part of a larger project CBF grants and loans will only be made for the elements of the works designed to lower their carbon footprint.
  2. To be awarded a CBF grant the church’s Synod must jointly fund the total grant. Therefore, before applying for a grant from the CBF the church must liaise with their Synod to establish the support that will be made available should a CBF grant be awarded.
  3. Synods are expected to make a contribution of normally between 20% and 80% of the total grant being applied for (recognising that other sources of funds may be used to cover the total cost of the developments). The CBF will then provide the remaining 80% to 20% of the grant. Synods can choose any percentage between 20 and 80. If a Synod is unable to provide that support, please contact the Chief Finance Officer at Church House.
  4. Two grants are available:
    1. Planning grant of up to £1000 to help with costs such as planning applications, energy surveys and structural surveyor’s fees. The planning grant is not subject to the joint funding requirement.
    2. Project grant, subject to the conditions below.
    3. The grants may be applied for in separate applications.
  5. Although no strict project maximum will be imposed, the expectation is that the majority of projects will cost less than £75,000 to achieve the kinds of net energy reduction we envisage.
  6. The usual maximum grant awarded will be £35,000 (not including the planning grant). In special cases, particularly when some of the financial benefits are returned to the CBF, larger amounts may be offered. Applications for grants of less than £1,000 will not be considered.
  7. Grants will not usually be awarded where a church can fund the works from reserves (without a CBF grant) and leave, after project completion, unrestricted reserves of more than 12 months of total church expenses.
  8. It is anticipated, but not a condition of the grants, that if the churches make significant savings through their CBF-supported Net Zero project some of their savings will be returned to the CBF. These discretionary returns should be made annually and sent to the Chief Finance Officer.
  9. Synods will be able to choose the proportion of funding applied for: anything between 20% and 80%.
  10. Grants are subject to approval from the CBF grant awarding body, whose decision is final.
  11. The CBF grant awarding body may offer a grant less than that requested.
  12. New grant applications will need to estimate payback periods; projects with paybacks substantially longer than ten years will not normally be funded.
  13. Grant applications will be reviewed monthly by the task group appointed by the Resources Committee.

LOANS

  1. Applications for loans for building works will only be considered where the total cost of the project is greater than £30,000.
  2. All loans granted will be interest free.
  3. Loans are expected to be paid back in about 6 years (ie at 4% per quarter.) Where necessary (eg for heat pumps), this can be extended up to 10 years (ie between 2.5% and 4% per quarter).
  4. All loans for building works will be limited to 50% of the cost of the project (excluding professional fees). The maximum loan available will be £100,000.
  5. Where churches are considering major improvements or modifications to existing premises in order to minimise their carbon footprint (e.g. using solar panels or insulation), the retention of consultants to advise on design and structure is essential.
  6. To encourage churches to employ professional consultants, consideration will be given to applications for assistance towards such fees separately from the cost of the works. In such cases, financial assistance will be given towards a loan of up to 100% of the professional fees (over and above the grant of £1,000), with a maximum of £25,000 in respect of any one project. This maximum of £25,000 applies irrespective of the number of consultancy contracts entered into.
  7. In order to qualify for a loan for professional fees, churches must show that the contract between the church and the consultant has received the approval of the Synod.
  8. Any loan in respect of professional fees is interest and repayment free for a period of 2 years from the date when the loan is taken up. At the end of the 2 years repayments are made quarterly and should be not less than 4% of the capital loan each quarter. So for a £25,000 loan the minimum repayment will be £1,000 (=£25,000 x 4%) each quarter, ie £4,000 per annum.
    Any loan towards the cost of works will be repayable by quarterly instalments of usually not less than 4% of the sum advanced. In the case of loans for heat pumps this repayment limit is reduced to 2.5%. The first instalment should be made within 12 months of the date of the first advance and thereafter instalments should be made quarterly. So for a £100,000 loan the repayment will be a minimum of £4,000 (=£100,000 x 4%) each quarter, ie £16,000 per annum.
  9. The Chief Finance Officer at Church House will send an indicative re-payment schedule on request once the loan has been agreed.
  10. Agreed loans are valid for twelve months from the date of approval. Loans not taken up by the due date will be deemed to have lapsed and further applications will be necessary.

Download the application form

Please send your completed application form, along with:

  • an estimate of work to be undertaken
  • a copy of the church’s accounts for the most recent financial year, or a statement of assets

to Jacqueline Watson (PA to the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Finance Officer)

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