Chancel repair liability and registration

This project aims to close a historic loophole and save homeowners millions in insurance costs.

Problem (Back to top)

Chancel repair liability is an obligation on a landowner to pay for certain repairs to a local church. It has its origins in the feudal system and is rarely enforced, but when it is the liability can be huge.

The intention of the Land Registration Act 2002 was that chancel repair liability should not bind purchasers of land after 2013 unless protected on the register. However, since the 2002 Act was brought into force, a question has arisen about the legal status of the liability and whether homeowners are nevertheless bound despite that Act.

As a result, home buyers and land purchasers spend millions each year on searches and insurance to help protect themselves from unexpected costs.

The 2002 Act also only governs registered land. Purchasers of unregistered land can still find that they are bound by an unexpected and undiscoverable chancel repair liability.

Project (Back to top)

This project came out of our 13^th Programme of Law Reform.

The project aims ensure that chancel repair liability does not bind purchasers of land, unless it is registered – and therefore visible – to purchasers.

It will also help avoid the need for purchasers to undertake chancel repair searches, or to pay for insurance – potentially saving millions.

We published a consultation paper on 15 July 2025. The consultation paper includes:

a detailed discussion of the history of chancel repair liability and its legal nature (see Chapters 2 to 4);
an examination of whether the Land Registration Act 2002 applies as expected to chancel repair liability (see Chapter 5);
provisional proposals (in Chapter 6) to amend the Land Registration Act 2002 to clarify that:
- it is possible to register a notice relating to a chancel repair liability that affects a registered estate; and
- a purchaser of a registered estate is not bound by a chancel repair liability unless the liability is protected by a notice registered against the estate;
a discussion of the law governing unregistered land (see Chapter 7);
provisional proposals (in Chapter 7) to amend the Land Registration Act 2002 to clarify that:
- it is possible to lodge a caution against first registration relating to a chancel repair liability; and
- a chancel repair liability that is not recorded in the register during first registration ceases to bind the newly registered estate; and
draft legislation that could implement our provisional proposals (see Appendix 3).

Consultation event

The property, family and trust law team hosted an online event as part of our public consultation on chancel repair liability and registration. The video is available below and on our YouTube channel.