Places features

St Joseph's Catholic Church in Langley Park, near Durham City, is trying to stop their empty church attracting the unwelcome attention of vandals.

So it's advertised for two people to live there.

To explain. After 40 years, St Joseph's stands vacant after the congregation moved across the road to new premises.

The old church is little more than a single-storey, pre-fabricated building, and will eventually be demolished but, until then, the hope is that "house-sitters" will protect a much-loved building.

Langley Park has nature nearby

Father Michael Griffiths says: "For us, we feel it is serving a need for accommodation, but it will also give us peace of mind. Parishioners don't want to see their building go, although they're now resigned to it, but the last thing we want to see is it wrecked."

Strictly speaking, the "house-sitters" won't be tenants. Nick Hilton, from the property management company, Ad Hoc, says: "We call them property guardians.

"They're people who'll take care of the building until we find a use for it, or until it's demolished. The main principles are that the guardians should be over 21 and working.

"These are the basics and part of the deal is that, because this is a security measure, and because the building is unusual, they shouldn't have pets or children."

Guardian angel

One other thing needs to be made clear. The £35 a week the guardians will pay isn't classified as rent, but as a licence fee, because there can be no long-term tenancy.

Nick Hilton showed me around what is now a deconsecrated church building.

Des res internal aspect

It's very basic and unfurnished, but two separate living quarters have been created at each end of the church.

They're separated by the church hall, with its rows of wooden pews and an altar. It would be strange living in one end of a church, with your neighbour at the other, divided by what remains of the church and its fittings. 

Nick's confident he'll find his guardians. His company does similar work for other vacated buildings: "We do everything from former churches, to care homes and pubs.

"St Joseph's would suit someone who would like a bit more space to hang-out in. It's warm and watertight. And it's certainly different from a flat-share or a house."

And for St Joseph's, it's a better option than boarding up their old church.

If you fancy church-sitting, or finding out what other unusual homes need someone living in them, you can contact Nick Hilton - n.hilton@adhoc.eu or 07500 967 327.