Places of Worship Renewal Fund

About the Fund

The Places of Worship Renewal Fund opened in June 2026. Please note that it is only open to listed places of worship. While the fund was announced following the closure of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in March 2026 it is not a direct replacement for this scheme and has different requirements. 

The Government has allocated £92 million in total for this scheme over four years (2026-2030) with up to £23million being available per annum. The fund, which is being administered by Historic England, will support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship in England, with grants awarded for capital works that keep buildings safe, open and in public use. 

Applications from areas of need are particularly encouraged. Various measures are used to assess need, including: 

• Indices of Multiple Deprivations (IMD)
• Community Needs Index (CNI)
• Areas of double deprivation  
• Serving areas of deprivation  
• Urgency of works  

More details about the fund can be found on the Historic England website, including FAQs. The Historic Religious Building Alliance also recently hosted a webinar which can be re-watched on their website. 

Grant Sizes and Supported Works  

The fund supports a range of small to large projects, from urgent structural repairs to physical access improvements and the installation of new facilities to expand community use. Please note that the focus of this fund is repairs, improvements or new facilities will only be considered as part of a wider repair scheme.  

To support different sizes of project, the fund is divided into 3 streams:

• Small grants of £10,000 to £50,000
• Medium grants of £50,001 to £350,000
• Large grants of £350,001 to £1,000,000

How to Apply

In the first instance our churches are being asked to complete an expression of interest. Successful churches subsequently will be invited to make a full application. If you are invited to make a full application, some support may be available through the Church Buildings Team.

To submit an expression of interest, you will need to fill in an online form, which can be found here on the Historic England website.  

You will need to refer to the Places of Worship Renewal Fund requirements in your expression of interest, briefly describing how your project meets the criteria.  

Specific additional documents are needed to support your expression of interest, including, where available, a copy of the latest condition survey, quinquennial inspection, or equivalent to evidence the need and urgency of the works.

You will also need a supporting letter from the Church Buildings Team, in consultation with the Archdeacon, confirming that the diocese is supportive of the project and likely to approve any consents/permissions required (if not already approved) to undertake the proposed works.

Preparing these supporting letters takes time away from other areas of work and places increased demands on our limited team capacity, so please make your request in good time and before the deadlines set out below. 

The letter includes data which may be useful when completing your Expression of Interest so it will also be beneficial for you to have this information earlier in the process.

To request a supporting letter, please email renewalfund@leeds.anglican.org with details of your church and parish name, a short summary of your project, and estimated project costs.

More information about drafting your Expression of Interest can be found here.

Deadlines

Monitoring & Evaluation  

The fund is highly competitive and not all who express an interest will be invited to apply. Likewise, not all who are invited to apply will be awarded funding. Try not to feel too disheartened if you are not invited to apply or if your applicaiton is not sucessful. Other grants and funding options as listed elsewhere on this website might still be available. 

While we provide supporting letters for all expressions of interest, our team are not copied into responses and feedback as standard. To help us understand how the fund is being distributed and used across the diocese, it would be helpful if you could forward your decision email to renewalfund@leeds.anglican.org.

Links to resources

More information on the fund can be found on the Historic England website: