The funding in the 2025/2026 budget for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) has now been fully allocated. This means the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has closed the LPWGS to new applications.
The LPWGS scheme will be replaced with the Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PoWRF). The details of this scheme are currently under review. The national church buildings team are working with the DCMS and Historic England, which will administer the new Fund, to help shape it.
If your church was intending to make an application to the LPWGS before 31 March 2026, to reimburse VAT on eligible work, or has an ongoing project that is affected by this, we would be grateful if you could share the details with us.
Please contact the Church Buildings Team by emailing the following information to ChurchBuildings@LeicesterCofE.org:
1. The total value of your project.
2. The total amount of eligible VAT (bearing in mind the £25k cap in 2025-6).
3. (optional) The postcode of the place of worship. No identifiable information will be published.
4. (optional) Anything else you would like to share about your project.
This information will be shared with the national church buildings team and Historic England to emphasise the impact of the scheme’s closure.
We understand that this news will be disappointing. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the care of their church building. We will share more information about the Places of Worship Renewal Fund in Diomail, when we can.