Disused kirk handed to residents for £1 in 'ownerless property' deal
The church sat abandoned for many years and was a property without an owner - until now.
A 200-year-old church will be formally transferred to its surrounding community for just £1 in a milestone move to bring hundreds of ownerless properties in Scotland back into use.
Campsie High Kirk in Lennoxtown has been vacant since it was badly damaged by a fire in the 1980s and will become a community arts centre following a major restoration.
The transfer is considered a flagship case for the new Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS) launched last year by the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer (KLTR).
Ownerless properties in Scotland are described as ‘bona vacantia’ and typically last owned by a dissolved company. It is not known how many there are in Scotland, with more research to follow.
The church will be taken over by the Friends of Campsie High Kirk after the group successfully applied to acquire the building from the KLTR for the nominal sum of £1, plus the costs of transfer.
John Logue, the KLTR, said: “The Friends of Campsie High Kirk presented a really compelling case for not only rescuing this magnificent building from further decline but also providing a community arts hub with the potential to give a huge economic and cultural boost to the Lennoxtown area.
“We are delighted to see the opportunities provided by the OPTS used in this way and look forward to watching the transformation.”
Craig Brooks, Chair of the Friends of Campsie High Kirk, welcomed the handover, which will take place at the church on Wednesday.
Mr Brooks said: “It’s not just about saving a building. It’s about something much bigger.
“It’s about communities being empowered by those in a position to give them the tools to make it happen.
"That applies from government right down to communities like ours.”
Campsie High Kirk was designed in the early 19th Century by prominent architect David Hamilton, who also designed Nelson’s Monument in Glasgow Green, Lennox Castle and the Royal Exchange building in Glasgow, which now serves as the Gallery of Modern Art.
The church was used for worship until the 1970s and was ravaged by a catastrophic fire in 1984.
The Ownerless Property Transfer Scheme (OPTS) works to bring properties which have fallen to the Crown to be brought back into purposeful use for the benefit of local communities.
Local authorities and community groups can apply for ownerless properties to be transferred to them for a nominal sum.
Applicants must clearly demonstrate that the planned use is supported by the community, sustainable and in the public interest.
Since the OPTS was launched last year, it has provided opportunities for green spaces, affordable housing and a community hub.
Overall, around 3,200 buildings in Scotland - from former schools, garage yards, abbatoirs and hotels - sit on the vacant and derelict land (VDL) register. The overwhelming majority - 88 per cent - have a listed owner or are described as being owned.
Many of the rest will also be owned by an individual or active company
Only a small proportion of properties on the VDL have ‘fallen to the Crown’.
Over the next two year, proactive work will be undertaken to identify which properties in Scotland can be classed as ownerless. Ultimately, the scheme helps to tackle local problems such as anti-social behaviour which often accompany abandoned properties.
There is no automatic notification system for when properties have become ownerless and, usually, local residents or a utility company will inform the KLTR that this is potentially the case.
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