Welcome to our latest round up of news and project updates from Ecclesiastical Property Solutions. This issue we look at how timely investigations into your church buildings can pay great dividends, whether it's by maximising income or minimising decay, working on your own or with professionals. We also debate how taking a tip from the retail world can encourage the community into your church building, plus more on how EPS has reduced costs to help Churches.
The VAT Issue: How EPS is cutting the cost of your bills
As we mentioned in our last newsletter, the thorny issue of VAT has been a burden to many Churches with whom we have worked. We understand that the extra 17.5% added to invoices can place a real pressure on your budgets, and as a result Ecclesiastical Property Solutions has been de-registered for VAT, which will make our services considerably more affordable.
Any business with an annual revenue of over £65,000 is required by law to charge VAT on goods and services to its clients, and whilst Churches in the Listed Places of Worship scheme are able to reclaim VAT relating to the repair of their church buildings, there are sadly no exceptions for church communities not listed. In other words, most churches (and charities, for that matter) have to pay VAT for services bought in. The only solution that EPS could find is to stop charging VAT in the first place – and that is exactly what we've decided to do.
Our decision to de-register for VAT means that we are having to scale down our range of services, in order to keep turnover below £65,000. As a result, EPS will now focus on those early consultation services which we know that Churches really value: Initial Visits, Workshops, Option Reviews and Feasibility Studies alongside general advice, consultation and project facilitation.
Our experienced consultant Rev'd Andrew Mottram will be the main point of contact, assisted by John Darby whose long experience in the construction industry is ideal for finding ways to make things happen. Churches requiring larger contracts, professional services and project delivery work on the Listed Places of Worship scheme will be able to work with a new sister company to EPS (which will be VATregistered) or by direct contracts with the relevant professionals.
All in all, it is now cheaper to work with EPS, which can only be good news.
Initial Visits Pay Dividends
Since EPS introduced the Initial Visit service at the end of last year, we've been overwhelmed with the response. We have been carrying out over four Initial Visits a month and have met with hugely positive responses from Churches, even when the solutions offered to their property problems were neither straightforward nor cheap.
It appears that the Initial Visits meet a real need amongst Churches. If you're not up to speed, this is what happens: EPS devote a sensible amount of time to investigate and reflect upon a Church's property situation, then make recommendations and identify the next steps to progress matters, all for an agreed fixed fee.
The Initial Visit is for some Churches all that they need to provide direction or a catalyst to get things started, while for other Churches who have become bogged down and blinded by a buildings issue, the Initial Visit has provided an objective view together with a route to find the solution.
We've visited over 20 churches across the country from North Yorkshire and Lancashire to Devon over the last six months, across the spectrum from inner-city to rural parishes.
If you are interested, please contact us to learn more.
Initial Visits Pay Dividends
It's worth bearing in mind that even if you call in external experts such as EPS to get you started on your building projects, there is no need to be hand-held all the way. Having spent some time with EPS sounding out their problems, several Churches have taken our advice – and then got on with the preparatory work needed for development themselves.
Following a workshop in October 2006, St Andrew's Chippenham have investigated how best to develop their buildings in order to serve the needs of both the Church and town community. Their initial plan - to hire out lots of public meeting space hire – showed itself to be unworkable, and they are now able to find new options for their range of under-used buildings.
Meanwhile, Brecon St Mary have followed up their EPS workshop by actively participating in the production of a Conservation Statement for the building and running a Community Review to assess wider community response.
St John's in Tottington have worked together with a local amateur dramatics group to run a series of consultation sessions that canvassed some 10% of the population. This has proved to be a huge encouragement to the partners who are seeking to open up the building for wider community use.
So doing-it-yourself can be a real and viable option for Churches in the early stages of building development. No one should under-estimate the time that this can take, but there are considerable benefits to Churches doing some of the preparatory work themselves, not least in terms of minimising costs.
Credit Crunch - Make Those Assets Work
We've all heard the doom and gloom stories regarding the credit crunch and recession hitting the UK economy. Beyond the headlines, the realities of congregations and visitors feeling the pinch can have serious implications on Church finances, reliant on Voluntary Giving to make ends meet. All this means that now is the perfect time to look at whether your Church's property assets are making realistic contributions to your finances or, more importantly, find out if they are being a drain.
At EPS we seek to help Churches become selfsufficient, where the buildings pay for themselves. Too often we discover Churches with buildings that do not earn their keep, especially in the case of halls where the rents are so low that they do not even cover the costs of keeping them up and running.
Asset Reviews
So-called Asset Reviews can bring uncomfortable
facts to the fore, but they are essential to help
Churches take greater control of their finances.
After all, all Churches have a duty to ensure that
good use is being made of the generosity of previous
generations.
EPS can help your Church get the best
If it seems daunting, you needn't be alone. EPS
can help your Church look at their built assets and
develop the strategies needed for them to make a
significant contribution to the work of your Church.
Wet Weather Warning – ensure your church has a 'dry hat and boots'
Church buildings may decay gently, but their problems are made a thousand times worse and the decline is much more rapid if water gets in the wrong places.
After a very wet summer, EPS recommends devoting some time now to make sure your church buildings are ready for the winter. Start off by checking that you are armed with effective and reliable gutters, downpipes and gullies. Leaves, twigs and plastic bags can all clog up your guttering, and should be removed so that rain water can run freely away from the roof and walls – water in the wrong place causes serious and expensive damage.
With the roof taken care of, it's worth considering your ground level too. Many churches are faced with the problem that their ancient buildings lie below the level of the surrounding land. This can introduce and hold damp in the walls and block the under floor ventilation of a suspended timber floor – just the sort of situation that dry rot requires for a successful lifestyle! Unlike rain, which comes in torrents, this kind of wet is more of a soggy seepage and so is often less noticeable. If a building condition or Quinquennial Inspection survey has identified this as an issue that needs attention, do not delay.
If you think we are exaggerating take note: EPS has been helping one Church community faced with a bill of over £200,000 to eradicate dry rot, repair roof coverings and remove the tens of cubic metres of soil piled up against the north wall to make a level car park. Simple neglect of about £5000 worth of roof repairs and an innocent but ill-informed 'improvement' has cost the Church a significant sum of money.
