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THE PROPERTY HANDBOOK
CHECKLIST FOR ROUTINE
PROPERTY PURCHASES
Note: Keep copies of everything for your parish records
p Approval ‘in principle’ by church council.
p Agreement ‘in principle’ by congregation.
p Working party authorised to proceed.
p Congregation mission plan prepared, together with statements relating property
purchase to the mission.
p Application prepared for presbytery/UDC and Church Property Trustees.
p Criteria checklist prepared, against which to measure potential properties. (This
section of the handbook has suggestions. Add to this any other factors special to
your situation.)
p Will you need to borrow money? If so, congregation, presbytery/UDC and the
Trustees all need to give formal approval.
p Engage a registered valuer to provide a market value report on your preferred
property.
p If your preferred property is for sale by tender, be prepared to act quickly to meet
tender deadline.
p Negotiate and settle purchase price.
p Unless you already have confirmed approval from the Trustees, enter into a
conditional agreement for sale and purchase, in consultation with parish solicitor
(see specifications in this section).
p Alert the Church Property Trustees.
p Unless a small group has delegated authority (preferable), you may need to place a
proposal before congregation, to gain final approval. Ensure the details are recorded
at each stage.
p If not already done, complete an ‘application to purchase’ form (request a printed
or emailed copy from the Trustees’ office), and forward it together with all other
required documents to the presbytery/UDC. (Presbytery will complete its section
and forward everything to the Church Property Trustees.)
p Before settlement day, remember to ask the PCANZ insurance administrator to add
the new property to your parish’s property schedule.