Due to a remnant of 16th century law, some private landowners continue to have an obligation to repair the chancel of their local parish church. The potential costs of chancel repair liabilities (CRLs), and the costs of insuring against them, have prompted the Law Commission to launch a fresh consultation in relation to these archaic obligations.
As legal expert Emily Windsor observes, the Law Commission’s 185-page consultation paper focusses on the registration aspects of CRLs, and contains proposals which would clarify and enhance the registration requirements in relation to them.
The Medieval Burden Haunting Modern Homeowners
Chancel repair liabilities date back to medieval times and Henry VIII. These obligations require certain property owners to maintain the chancel—the eastern section containing the altar—of their local parish church if constructed before 1536.
Emily Windsor explains that property owners may be liable for these repair bills even if this was not apparent from the title deeds when they purchased the property. The liability attaches to the land and passes on the sale of the property.
The financial impact can be devastating. Take, for example, the famous case of Mr. and Mrs. Wallbank, who inherited agricultural land carrying a £230,000 chancel repair bill. The couple ultimately lost their home, with Mr. Wallbank describing the situation as “medieval madness.”
Indeed, the Law Commission recommended the complete abolition of CRLs in 1985, calling them a “relic of the past” that is “no longer acceptable”. However, those recommendations were never implemented.
Registration Reforms and Ongoing Uncertainty
Emily Windsor notes that more recently, in October 2013, efforts were made to increase the transparency of CRLs. Changes were made to the Land Registration Act 2002, so that CRLs would cease to be an “overriding interest”: the intended effect was that CRLs would have to be registered to be binding. However, since then, lawyers have expressed doubts about whether CRLs fall within the scope of the 2002 Act at all, which would depend on them being “an interest affecting an estate”.
The uncertainty is said to have added approximately £30 to £40 to typical house purchase costs, with buyers routinely advised to conduct specialised searches or purchase insurance against the risk—expenses that are unnecessary in most cases.
New Proposals Aim for Clarity
The Law Commission’s current proposal, therefore, is to further amend the Land Registration Act 2002 retrospectively, to clarify that CRLs qualify as “an interest affecting an estate” and therefore only bind property buyers of registered land when registered against the relevant title.
The consultation also examines potential changes affecting unregistered land, which still comprises 11% of the land in England and Wales. It is suggested that further reforms might require CRLs affecting unregistered land to be registered as land charges in order to bind purchasers. However, the Law Commission acknowledges that since land charges are registered against people rather than land, it may not always be easy to find the relevant people.
Limited Scope Leaves Fundamental Issues Unaddressed
Emily Windsor points out that the current project focuses simply on the registration of CRLs, within the context of wider land registration reforms, while avoiding broader questions about CRLs themselves.
For example, the consultation does not engage with bolder reforms that others have called for, including:
- The complete abolition of chancel repair liabilities.
- Imposing caps on potential claims (which at present can exceed the value of the land).
- Modifying the “several” liability which may result in one individual landowner being pursued for the entire cost of the chancel repairs.
Despite the limitations of the consultation, homeowners and conveyancers will likely welcome increased certainty in the registration regime, even if some might have preferred more comprehensive reform.
The consultation remains open until November 15, 2025.
