D2 Boundary & Party Walls

 1          The local church and the Trust both have their responsibilities as regards the church land. Generally speaking, it is the duty of the local church (exercised through its elders’ meeting) to undertake the day-to-day ongoing duties of looking after the buildings and making sure they are properly maintained and insured.   The Trust is available for general advice and guidance and becomes actively involved if and when called upon to undertake some specific function such as the sale or lease of church land (see the United Reformed Church Act 1972 Schedule 2).   The most common legal questions arising in connection with church land are identified as follows: 

• ownership of boundaries and responsibilities for maintenance of walls and fences;
• encroachment onto land which belongs to the church;

• the Party Wall Act 1996 – this is important for all owners and occupiers of property where building work is to be carried out, it deals with the formal processes, notices, rights of way, leases and it recommends that professional advice should be sought.