Couple forced to sell house to pay off Church
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwic...
'Couple sell house to pay Church
The Wallbanks are auctioning their farmhouse after losing a legal battle
A couple are auctioning their house after losing an 18 year battle to overturn an archaic law making them liable for church repairs.
Andrew and Gail Wallbank became responsible for maintaining a 13th Century church in Aston Cantlow, Warks, when they inherited Glebe Farm in 1982.
The Church invoked a Medieval covenant in 1990 to make the Welsh couple pay.
They paid the Church £37,000 last week to remove the covenant allowing them to sell the farm at an auction later.
Mr Wallbank, a life-long Christian, said he was "saddened" by the way the Church had gone about asking for the money.
'Honour agreement'
He said he would have been happy to help with the upkeep of St John the Baptist's Church in Aston Cutlow, Warwickshire, where it is believed William Shakespeare's parents wed.
The sale in itself does not yet resolve the need to fund repairs to the parish church.
Martin Sheppard, spokesman for Coventry Diocese
"I hope we would have been very generous. My father-in-law always felt he should make donations and we would have wanted to honour that," he said.
"It's a tragedy it has worked out this way, that we had to go to court and now have to sell the farm, because we like to think we would have been friendly and helpful neighbours."
The Wallbanks, from Carno, Powys, said they needed to sell the Grade II listed farm to buy themselves out of the covenant with the Church and to pay £250,000 in legal fees.
The sale of Glebe Farm may not resolve the dispute, the church said
The six-bedroom property stands on former rectory land and comes with outbuildings and its own orchard.
'Unfinished business'
It is due to be auctioned by John Earle and Sons in Henley-in-Arden later and the sale guide price is £750,000.
Mr Wallbank said when his father-in law bought the property in 1970 he was told by the Church the Chancel Repair Liability was no longer legally enforceable.
"We were very surprised to receive a letter from the Church in January 1990 saying as you know you are responsible for the upkeep of the church and we asking for help to repair the windows," he added.
Martin Sheppard, a spokesman for Coventry Diocese, said: "The Diocese of Coventry and Aston Cantlow Parochial Church Council are aware of the auction of Glebe Farm today, but will not be commenting since the sale in itself does not yet resolve the need to fund repairs to the parish church." '
Nothing like the Holier than Thou Church to throw you out of your own home for a bit of cash. I know there is insurance for this type of thing, but still it's a very Christian attitude. Makes me even more sure of my pro Darwin-ist views and contempt for organised religion.
'Couple sell house to pay Church
The Wallbanks are auctioning their farmhouse after losing a legal battle
A couple are auctioning their house after losing an 18 year battle to overturn an archaic law making them liable for church repairs.
Andrew and Gail Wallbank became responsible for maintaining a 13th Century church in Aston Cantlow, Warks, when they inherited Glebe Farm in 1982.
The Church invoked a Medieval covenant in 1990 to make the Welsh couple pay.
They paid the Church £37,000 last week to remove the covenant allowing them to sell the farm at an auction later.
Mr Wallbank, a life-long Christian, said he was "saddened" by the way the Church had gone about asking for the money.
'Honour agreement'
He said he would have been happy to help with the upkeep of St John the Baptist's Church in Aston Cutlow, Warwickshire, where it is believed William Shakespeare's parents wed.
The sale in itself does not yet resolve the need to fund repairs to the parish church.
Martin Sheppard, spokesman for Coventry Diocese
"I hope we would have been very generous. My father-in-law always felt he should make donations and we would have wanted to honour that," he said.
"It's a tragedy it has worked out this way, that we had to go to court and now have to sell the farm, because we like to think we would have been friendly and helpful neighbours."
The Wallbanks, from Carno, Powys, said they needed to sell the Grade II listed farm to buy themselves out of the covenant with the Church and to pay £250,000 in legal fees.
The sale of Glebe Farm may not resolve the dispute, the church said
The six-bedroom property stands on former rectory land and comes with outbuildings and its own orchard.
'Unfinished business'
It is due to be auctioned by John Earle and Sons in Henley-in-Arden later and the sale guide price is £750,000.
Mr Wallbank said when his father-in law bought the property in 1970 he was told by the Church the Chancel Repair Liability was no longer legally enforceable.
"We were very surprised to receive a letter from the Church in January 1990 saying as you know you are responsible for the upkeep of the church and we asking for help to repair the windows," he added.
Martin Sheppard, a spokesman for Coventry Diocese, said: "The Diocese of Coventry and Aston Cantlow Parochial Church Council are aware of the auction of Glebe Farm today, but will not be commenting since the sale in itself does not yet resolve the need to fund repairs to the parish church." '
Nothing like the Holier than Thou Church to throw you out of your own home for a bit of cash. I know there is insurance for this type of thing, but still it's a very Christian attitude. Makes me even more sure of my pro Darwin-ist views and contempt for organised religion.
Darth Paul said:
Nothing like the Holier than Thou Church to throw you out of your own home for a bit of cash. I know there is insurance for this type of thing, but still it's a very Christian attitude. Makes me even more sure of my pro Darwin-ist views and contempt for organised religion.
Don't believe everything you read in the press, there's two sides to every story. If you inherit/buy a house with a massive potential liability in the deeds you take legal advice and then dispose of it if the liability could cause you financial difficulty.Also don't confuse organised religion with faith and God - organised religion is just like any other bunch of people... just people.
And what's the theorist Darwin got to do with it ?
JR said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
You'd think that after say £50K someone would have advised them that this was not a sensible course to take; still they ended up with the best part of half a million.It would be interesting to see what advice they got on from their current advisors. £250k in legals? vs fixing some windows? vs selling the farm?
Dear oh dear!
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It's only in the past 7-10 years that solicitors undertake a chancel check automatically - after the COE set a precedent by going after someone if I recall correctly. The check they carry out is only to determine whether you MAY have a chancel liability - if it was confirmed you did you wouldn't get insurance for it!. We took out insurance for our current house :-(Shame we can't just ignore it.
COE says "You must pay for windows"
We say "f
k off"COE says "Let's go to court"
Court says "f
k off".Job done.
johnfm said:
JR said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
You'd think that after say £50K someone would have advised them that this was not a sensible course to take; still they ended up with the best part of half a million.It would be interesting to see what advice they got on from their current advisors. £250k in legals? vs fixing some windows? vs selling the farm?
Dear oh dear!
munroman said:
Organised thieving by the church, if it can't be self funded then let it rot!
A glorified protection racket.
Why cant God provide for it?
He did.... in the deeds for the house which was probably built on land given to the builder by the Church in the first place. A glorified protection racket.
Why cant God provide for it?
How else do you think the deed came to have the maintenance clause in it ? The house owner wouldn't have inserted it just for the fun of it . . .
CRA2Y said:
The Church is just a business out to get as much money out of you as possible, no different to the Government, the Mafia or Microsoft.
Woah woah woah! Don't insult the Mafia by lumping them in with criminals like The Church, Microsoft and the Government.... they're not that bad.Busa_Rush said:
munroman said:
Organised thieving by the church, if it can't be self funded then let it rot!
A glorified protection racket.
Why cant God provide for it?
He did.... in the deeds for the house which was probably built on land given to the builder by the Church in the first place. A glorified protection racket.
Why cant God provide for it?
How else do you think the deed came to have the maintenance clause in it ? The house owner wouldn't have inserted it just for the fun of it . . .
And this.
Same goes for Agricultural Conditions in Planing Permissions - There's a reason that lovely cottage is two thirds the price of similar places...
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