Turning empty church buildings or unused land into affordable housing will be discussed later.

The Church in Wales conference will look to encourage congregations to think about how space can be used for homes.

The aim is for churches, church halls and vicarages, which are no longer used because of falling congregations, to be offered for conversion into homes.

The Church in Wales believes it could meet housing needs and raise income.

It added that one of its churches closes every month in Wales, mainly because the number of people using them is falling.

The project Faith in Affordable Housing will be the focus of the conference in Cardiff which is being jointly hosted by charity Housing Justice.

It will also be a chance for people working in local authority housing or planning departments and other housing providers to learn more about church land and buildings.

Alex Glanville, head of property services at Church in Wales, said: "This is an exciting project which could benefit people in desperate need of housing.

HughMcB wrote:I've always wanted to convert a church to live in. Here's hoping that enough of 'em go unused.

b.ternarius wrote:In rural areas here, many churches are within a few years of being financially non-viable. The congregations are shrinking fast, especially true for my area, where young people just aren't interested. Average age of Anglican congregations is mid seventies. Many of them are pretty little wooden churches, but turning them into homes or even selling them will be no easy task. The six I'm most familiar with are well over a century old, some closer to two, uninsulated, have no plumbing or water source, no basements. Those are things that a lot of money could fix but you could probably buy a turnkey brand new home of similar size for the same amount. Sadly, the biggest obstacle with selling them is not what's inside, but what is outside: every one of them has a graveyard adjacent full of everyone's ancestors, dead husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, siblings. People cannot bear to let go of these places for this reason.