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Planning Policy Update

"Responding to the Needs of Faith Communities: Places of Worship"

A Report by TA Property Consultants
June, 2008

www.taproperty.com
Email: info@taproperty.com
Tel: 020 8955 1770

Background: Planning Problems Faced by Independent Churches

The decline in attendance at orthodox churches and the growth of independent churches have led to a paradoxical situation in London. Orthodox churches are well located but only sparsely attended, while independent churches and faith communities have growing congregations but struggle to secure suitable premises.

UK planning policy is frequently at odds with the needs of modern, independent churches - nowhere more so than London. The establishment some years ago of Designated Employment Areas (as part of each borough's Unitary Development Plan) has meant that in today's service industry-based economy, many former industrial and warehouse buildings stand empty.

Many of these buildings have been empty for years and are clearly surplus to the requirements of each borough's economy. They become neglected and are often magnets for petty crime. Despite this, planning applications by churches for the use of these properties are routinely refused. The primary reason for this is the requirement for a change of use to category D1, place of worship.

The reality is that actual worship only occupies a small percentage of the time for which such churches are in use. Modern, independent churches are increasingly seeking to offer a wide range of facilities, such as accommodation for the elderly, halfway house care for recovering addicts and childcare day centres.

Such uses provide employment and help to create a cohesive, healthy community. Yet planning restrictions based on the DEA rules continually frustrate and prevent such developments, even though empty industrial buildings are ideal for these purposes and will be enhanced and upgraded by the renovation and conversion work.

TA Property Consultant's founder, Olatunji Adebayo, started his company to help churches deal with the complexities and challenges the planning system provides. He specialises in assisting independent churches in finding and occupying suitable premises. TA Property's service is comprehensive and includes identifying suitable locations, managing planning applications and helping to arrange financing, another difficult area for most churches.

Olatunji Adebayo is at the heart of the campaign to raise awareness and develop top-level solutions to these issues. As a member of the Coherent and Cohesive Voice group, he is campaigning at central government and London Mayor level for Supplementary Planning Guidance to be put into place in all London Boroughs.

This guidance would support and encourage the reuse by independent churches of surplus vacant buildings within Designated Employment Areas, in recognition of the social and economic benefits such churches provide.

Some progress is being made in achieving these goals; this report looks at the findings of a project initiated by the Mayor of London in response to concerns raised by faith communities over the difficulty of finding suitable premises for places of worship.

Introduction to "Responding to the Needs…"

Responding to the Needs of Faith Communities: Places of Worship is a research project that was initiated by the office of the Mayor of London. It is a response to concerns over the planning issues faced by independent churches and faith-based community groups.

The two primary objectives of the project are:

To respond to concerns raised by faith communities over the lack of suitable premises for places of worship in the city;
To provide a clear assessment of current levels of demand and of the specific issues currently faced by faith communities in Greater London.

TA Property Consultant's founder Olatunji Adebayo was one of the participants at the recent Responding to the Needs of Faith Communities: Places of Worship workshop, which was organised by CAG Consultants.

This short report provides a summary of the key issues and proposals that were discussed at the workshop.

Summary of Workshop Proceedings

The workshop covered three main areas, each of which is summarised below.

Needs of Faith Communities for Worship Space in London

It was widely felt that difficulties in valuing and leasing listed buildings (such as former churches) cause problems for faith communities. Similarly, it can be difficult to value and market buildings as potential places of worship. This discourages some property owners from looking for tenants amongst faith communities.

The future needs of London faith communities are hard to predict due to the constantly changing demographic of this sector. The diverse needs of London's faith communities mean that it is not possible to prescribe a single solution to their needs; flexibility is required. However, it was agreed that wherever possible, multi-use centres should be encouraged in preference to premises that are used as places of worship only.

Planning Experiences

The single, overriding issue that emerged from this discussion (which included representatives of faith groups and planners) was that both groups lacked a thorough understanding each other's needs and priorities.

Those planners present freely admitted that they need more understanding of faith groups' needs and of the contribution faith community centres can make to the community. It was also noted that it is necessary for planners to appreciate that multi-use community centres are not an appropriate solution for all faith groups, some of which need dedicated places of worship.

Many faith group representatives felt that the level of planning refusals and withdrawals was higher than that stated by the consultants; in particular, there was a feeling that many applications are withdrawn specifically to avoid a refusal.

The general consensus amongst faith groups was that London's planning authorities have underestimated the amount of space required by faith communities. This problem is often compounded by the automatic opposition applications for places of worship attract in both residential and employment areas. This opposition is often based on "worst-case scenarios" and sometimes stems from a lack of understanding about how the premises will be used.

Finally, it was felt that planners often had reservations about granting planning approval for faith use of historic or listed buildings. In fact, such reservations are often unfounded and faith use can actually help maintain community use of the building, in keeping with its original purpose.

Possible Solutions

Several possible solutions were put forwards to help improve the ability of planning authorities to meet the needs of London faith communities:

Suggestion of a tariff for community infrastructure in new developments;
Improved faith literacy for planners and planning literacy for faith groups;
Encourage shared and multi-use spaces;
Raise the planning status of places of worship to be equal with that of housing and employment;
It was also noted that the abolition of Empty Property Rate Relief may act as an incentive to property owners to seek faith group tenants.

Conclusions

All attendees at the stakeholder workshop agreed that demand for places of worship and faith community centres is increasing in London.

Planners need to be better-provided with information about these needs. Faith groups should recognise that any steps they can proactively take to address objections to their applications will improve their chances of success.

The conflict between releasing employment land for faith use and generating new employment was acknowledged, but it was agreed that the abolition of empty property rate relief may incentivize landlords who cannot find suitable commercial tenants to look for faith group tenants instead.

It was noted that the consultants will suggest that any Place of Worship policy in the forthcoming London Plan should be accompanied by Supplementary Planning Guidance for both planning authorities and applicants. This is in line with the petition made by TA Property Consultants to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2004.