Financing a church conversion

With church conversions increasing in number and popularity, many mortgage lenders are offering finance for the prospective homeowner looking to live in a converted property. Due to the complex nature of undertaking your own church conversion, 100% mortgages are uncommon, so you need to have a good deposit ready. However, this is less of an issue if you are buying an already converted church. Think about financing your church conversion in the following stages:

1. An architect will give you an estimated cost of the conversion, add another 20% of the total to this as a contingency fund.
2. Get a local estate agent to estimate the value of the property after your planned conversion - this should really help in securing a mortgage. If the figure he gives is less than the total of the conversion and original building purchase combined, you will have difficulty getting a mortgage, besides which you should seriously reconsider your project.
3. You should now know how much of a loan you need to secure. It is common for the mortgage lender to release the required amount of money to purchase the church and further amounts will be released at predetermined stages during the conversion, after the completion of certain works for example.

The following institutions can help in providing finance for church conversions:

• Norwich and Peterborough Building Society
• Build Store

Help and advice on converting a church

If you are serious about buying a church conversion or converting a church yourself. You will find the following links indispensable:

• English Heritage
• Federation of Master Builders
• Guild of Master Craftsmen
• Scottish Redundant Churches Trust
• Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

Depending on the level of conversion you decide on, living in a church can throw up some interesting challenges. If you want to maintain the church's original features as much as possible, here are a few style tips you may not have thought of already:

• Washing machines and other domestic appliances could be hidden in original wooden cupboards.
• Sewage could be taken care of in a tank which must be regularly emptied.
• Domestic boilers using liquid gas can be used according to the weather along with a wood burning stove if you are in the countryside.
• Somewhere you will need to keep a very long-ladder, because lightbulbs can be very hard to reach indeed!

Potential pitfalls and problems

When all is said and done, buying any kind of church conversion is far from an ordinary house purchase and there are many extra special factors to consider before you decide once and for all that it is the right move for you. Let's take a look at some of the odd points you may want to consider before buying a church conversion:

• Be sure that the church conversion has been made tastefully and in accordance with the original features. You are paying your money for something a bit special so, if it feels like you are in a normal home, perhaps the developers missed the point while attempting to maximise the returns on their own investment.
• Check that the developer has considered practical issues like noise and heat insulation. Old buildings are notoriously hard to heat and churches were built to carry sound, if they have done their job properly you shouldn't have to take a vow of silence just to live in your new home.
• Keep any exterior changes to the bare minimum, preserve that sense of ethereal timelessness and the building's integrity.
• Churches are unique for their grandeur and scope so do not break up that dramatic internal space into smaller pieces.
• As many alterations to churches will require planning permission, make sure it is done to your taste. Changing things afterwards can be costly and awkward. High ceilings make things tricky as well.
• Are all your family comfortable with the idea of living in a converted church? If you have young children, it is likely that they or their friends will convince them that it is plagued by ghosts.
• How long has it been since it was used as a church? There may be people living locally who will have some attachment to the building in its original incarnation. You don't want them poking around your property but, in some cases ,it would be wise to consider the reaction of the local community, particularly when it comes to altering the exterior of your church conversion.
• If there are graves still there and you intend to build upon or purchase the ground they are on, it will first have to be deconsecrated. Remains can be relocated but, if they are not, then you are bound to allow relatives access.
• Converted churches could come with a variety of potentially costly building issues such as wet or dry rot, lead roofing issues (a frequent issue with churches) or an unstable steeple - the last two examples would require specialist attention. Always have a detailed inspection completed.

Once you are living in your church conversion, you can find online help and advice on conserving old buildings at the Building Conservation website. They also sell a range of specialist publications from their bookstore.