An article published in the Property Week
God speaks with many voices: there are as many as 50 Christian denominations in Great Britain and countless more of other faiths. Between them they run more than 47,000 places of worship.
There are more than 1,000 non-Christian temples, mosques, synagogues and gurdwaras.
In terms of property requirements, religious groups form one of the fastest-growing sectors, and the property they want is commercial. Evangelical Christian churches are growing most quickly and they account for all but a small proportion of the demand for new church buildings. New evangelical churches are acquiring former industrial and office space at an estimated rate of 93,000-140,000 sq m (1-1.5m sq ft) a year.
In 1983 cross-denominational umbrella group the Evangelical Alliance estimated that it had around 10,000 adherents. Today it is a massive organization embracing twelve denominations, three thousand places of worship and more than 1 million believers.
Estimates vary, but around on-third of the 3,500 evangelical churches founded in the past ten years are thought to be in converted commercial premises. Perhaps as many as 300 are in new, purpose-built facilities, with the rest in disused church premises or renting school halls and sports centres.
According to Gerald Coates, a leading figure in the evangelical movement and a guiding force in the Pioneer Network - an 80 strong alliance of Christian partnerships - the remaining evangelical congregations are probably looking for new property now and commercial property will be top of the list.
Coates explains: "Partly it is about sharing faith and the informal approaches to worship which these buildings make possible. But it's also about numbers. Our congregations are 600, 700 or more. Traditional churches can't cope - most seat 75-200 people, a few as many as 300. There are probably as many as 2,000 churches looking for property".
The Evangelical Alliance's Gill Troup says it is hard to predict demand for new places of worship because it depends so heavily on local circumstances. At the current rate of growth around 200 evangelical congregations are founded every year, with as many as 100 conversions of exising commercial space.
As for any major commercial occupier, car parking is a real problem. Michael Wright of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches says: "Car parking can be a great difficulty, especially if there isn't much on-street parking available. Many of our churches have had to look at extending their car parks."
In a fast growing church, congregations tend to be recently formed, relatively small and short of cash. It is only when hired rooms are outgrown or when storage facilities run short, that churches look for a home of their own.
In such circumstances conversion of existing premises is preferred. Cinemas or factories are most suitable because they are readily adapted for worship and have plenty of car parking. For example, the Oasis Church in Colliers Wood, south-west London, is the fruit of another church growing in nearby Wimbledon. Oasis bought the freehold of a 930 sq m (10,000 sq ft) former factory at Fortescue Road, Colliers Wood for £185,000. It plans to convert it into a church and community centre.
Richard Dennis-Smith of Jorden Salata Graham specializes in advising Christian groups on their property requirements. He says they work on the assumption that they will need one square metre for each worshipper. This allows for ancillary space as well as worshipping areas. "Churches want a good clean-span warehouse space, something simple - former industrial buildings are ideal." But Dennis-Smith says the choice of former commercial property for churches is no accident. It is part o a wider spiritual agenda. "God has his own property agenda," he says, "and some buildings just aren't appropriate. The thing is that Christians want to put their money into actions, not property, and the building itself is just an instrument."
Much of the impetus to recycle industrial properties comes from leading evangelical thinker Rob Warner. In a series of books, he said of former factory and warehouse buildings: "Their simplicity resonates well with the culture of the baby-boomer generation".
Warner has argued that the familiar design style, much like the places in which many people work, makes it homely and comfortable compared with drafty Victorian Gothic churches. They are also easier to dispose of.
There is an affinity in working methods too: evangelical churches are business oriented and fit easily into the corporate culture. It is not uncommon for the leading pastors to have PA's, just like the chief executive of any company.
The Evangelical Alliance says new build is rare but not unheard of. Ample car parking and a central location are preferred and size depends entirely on the congregation's budget and expectations. Between 929 sq m and 1,858 sq m (10,000 sq ft and 20,000 sq ft) is the norm.
Many new places of worship are the result of "Church-plantings", where members of an existing congregations form a daughter church elsewhere. For example, a south-London congregation "planted" a church at Bristol's massive Bradley Stoke housing estate. It could soon have a new building if the minister, Brian Sage, gets his way.
Five years ago it bought a 0.2 ha (0.5 acre) site on the estate. With funds limited the 40-strong congregation opted to hire a 134 sq m (1,450 sq ft) portable cabin but are now planning a £220,000 church. The first phase will seat around 130 in 297 sq m (3,200 sq ft) building, a second phase of the same size is hoped for.
Sage confirms car parking is a key issue. He says: "We have outline planning permission for the scheme - parking was an issue for us and the planners."
Bristol planners insisted on a ratio of rather less than one car parking space for every ten worshippers, but other authorities are prepared to negotiate, adding hard-standing for bicycles can help reduce the amount of parking the planners demand.
If a congregation is astute it may make a partnership agreement with landlords and other users, cutting costs by sharing the building. In April work started on the £2.4 m Kings Centre on the site for the former Chessington airbase. The 1,860 sq m (20,000 sq ft) centre is a unique partnership between Chessington Evangelical Church and Kingston council.
The multipurpose centre is intended to provide sports and social facilities for locals as well as a place of worship. Christians there see it is an extension of their faith into the community. A 900-seat auditorium and a conference suite are integral to the scheme.
Church minister Trevor Archer says: "We were not interested in erecting a traditional church that would only have limited, occasional use. What excited us was the thought of a multipurpose centre to meet the needs of the whole person. Here was a rare and imaginative opportunity to create a social and spiritual heart in the community".
The evangelical churches look set to continue their growth: what this says about the spiritual health of the nation depends on your point of view, but for the property industry it is genuinely good news.
Planning for heaven's place on earth
The Royal Town Planning Institute says there are no special planning rules for religious buildings. Normal planning guidelines, suitably adapted, apply in most cases. Planners are said to be keen to ensure there is sufficient car parking and a few trees, and noise is kept under control if there are residential properties nearby.
Some authorities have objected to churches, claiming they are inappropriate on main roads and urban fringe sites - although one Jehova's Witness scheme was allowed on appeal on the grounds that it counted as a leisure-related activity.
Failure to set aside enough car-parking ratios range from one space for every ten worshippers to one for every five.
The rules on change of use of industrial or commercial property into a place of worship are straightforward. Car-parking considerations come to the fore along with the consequences for the neighborhood and whether the loss of the existing use is thought to be detrimental to the area
The rules are more complex if religious instruction - church schools or Sunday school - is to take place, particularly at a former residential property. Some cases have gone to appeal over issues including the likelihood of noise being transmitted through walls.
Published in Property Week.
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