Bank hits record church lending

Kingdom Bank has announced record lending for 2024, having approved 99 mortgages with a total value of nearly £27million.

The Christian bank uses deposits from churches and individuals to make loans to churches, Christian charities and those in full-time ministry secured on property. Since 2020, it has granted £100 million in loans and aims to boost that number by 150% over the next five years, lending a further £250 million by 2030. Of the mortgages in 2024, 44 were for church buildings, 28 were for houses for church leaders, 20 were personal mortgages for Christian ministers and seven – for churches and charities – were secured on other types of buildings. The largest group applying for loans was independent evangelical churches.

Paul Houghton (pictured), Chief Executive of Kingdom Bank, spoke exclusively to en about these numbers: ‘Most of this money is being used to help churches find a permanent home … This is especially important when many church leaders are worried about rising rents and society’s increased hostility towards the gospel. Churches meeting in schools, for example, may be concerned about the long-term security of a place to meet on a Sunday … Wonderfully, we have also seen a good number who have outgrown their current meeting space.’