Reanne Thomas, from the Clergy Housing Team, describes the improvements being made to vicarages during interregnum.
Our ingoing works continue to be a high priority, with a large volume of projects completed in the first three months of 2025 alone. As many of our clergy are aware, our ingoing work (IGW) stream covers the condition of the internal fabric of the house as well as internal fixtures and fittings during a parsonage interregnum. This happens once a property becomes vacant and the future use of property has been agreed with the Archdeacon and the London Diocesan Fund (LDF).
This interregnum period is one that offers an opportunity for real upgrade, and as such this period usually comes with a vested interest from our churchwardens, potential new appointments, and our Archdeacons. Over the past year we have been working hard to standardise our works specifications to create a more uniform finish, which also helps to manage new incumbent expectations.
One of our most popular upgrades has been our newly specified kitchens, which are in the Howden’s shaker style, in a contemporary design. This range not only naturally complements our heritage buildings but also provides extended product lifespans in comparison to our previous kitchen fits. Our white metro tiles with a grey grout finish are now carried across our kitchen, bathroom and utility spaces, and bring a breath of fresh air to once tired spaces. Again, they have increased longevity in comparison to our previous white grouting finishes.
Our ingoing works project manager Alex touches on the recent impact of standardising our offer:
Over the years we have seen an extended life from using better finishes in kitchen and bathrooms. Standardising these has helped better control budgets and expectations, as well as receiving more positive clergy feedback. Although it is continually tough to try to predict how a house will be used by varying individual clergy lifestyles, this is always considered at the design stage while using a limited resource. Using better quality products has also helped increase the lifespan of spaces and is evident when revisiting properties where kitchens we installed a number of years ago using these products still are in great condition. We are now pushing to improve other products to more hard wearing and pleasing to the eye whilst still keeping costs in mind.
Whilst we are unable meet every individual request or adaptation, we appreciate that the new incumbent may have their own hopes and desires for their living spaces. We therefore continue to encourage joint inspection with our Archdeacons and new incumbents where ingoing works has yet to start, which helps manage expectations.
There may still be some uncertainty regarding which works are included as part of the ingoing works process or overall maintenance. Our ‘Clergy Handbook’ outlines areas of incumbent responsibility as well as general guidance toward the shared management responsibilities.