A property tycoon has launched a plan to save churches across England and protect the structures from being converted into different facilities.
Samuel Leeds, who owns developments in the UK and around the world, has declared he “doesn’t care” about making a profit in reviving the Christian sites closing down across the country.
Addressing his followers on X, the entrepreneur set out his proposal.
“I wanna to buy churches like this that are shutting down across England," he said. "So if you know a church that's for sale and potentially closing down, let me know.
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“I don't care if it's got planning permission to return to flats redeveloped.
“I wanna buy it. I don't care how profitable the conversion will be.”
More than 3,500 churches have closed across the UK in the past decade, some being repurposed as mosques and nightclubs, as falling congregations and rising repair costs make their operation impossible.
“If it was built as a church, I believe it needs to stay as a church,” Mr Leeds stressed.
Property tycoon Samuel Leeds has vowed to save churches shutting down across England
|X: SAMUEL LEEDS
He was addressing growing cases of developers turning disused chapels into flats, restaurants, libraries and climbing centres, while others have been transformed into community hubs, music venues or offices.
In other cases, some churches have been converted into other places of worship, such as Sikh gurdwaras.
Reform UK raised the issue as one for concern, claiming 41 Christian sites have been taken over and used as mosques, with planning permission launched for “many, many more”.
Zia Yusuf, the party’s Home Affairs Spokesman, said: “I think the Christian heritage of this country is very important and protecting our heritage and our culture is important.
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More than 3,500 churches across Britain have closed their doors in the last decade
|GETTY
“Otherwise, the country is not a country, it’s just an economic zone.
“And so, as one step in pursuit of that, we will end the incendiary practice of converting churches into mosques or any other places of worship by granting listed status automatically to all churches and prohibiting that."
Mr Leeds has said he is not interested in making money with his quest to save places of worship for Christians around the country.
“I love making profit in property, but when someone's being built as a church to honour Jesus Christ, that's a no no,” he vowed.
In a later video, Mr Leeds revealed he had put in a cash offer of £225,000 for Darelston Methodist Church in Wednesbury, West Midlands, which was set to be converted by developers.
The tycoon told his followers he believed a return to the church was coming in England and the faiths' historical structures should be preserved to accommodate it.
“There's revival coming in England, and we need to keep our churches open," he said.
Mr Leeds said the country should be “ready for what’s to come”.
Young Britons are driving an unexpected revival surge in Christianity in the UK, according to figures
| GETTYFigures from YouGov’s bi-annual tracker revealed that belief in God among 18 to 24-year-olds has almost tripled in just three-and-a-half years, rising from 16 per cent in August 2021 to 45 per cent in January 2025.
Among 25-49-year-olds, belief has risen more modestly, from 21 per cent to 33 per cent over the same period.
Church attendance figures have also increased, according to two YouGov polls in 2018 and 2024, which showed a 56 per cent growth in UK adults attending church at least once a month.
When comparing the data, which excludes weddings, baptisms, and funerals, numbers rose from eight per cent in 2018 to 12 per cent in 2024.
The drastic change means the total population of monthly churchgoers rose from 3.7 million to 5.8 million people in just six years.
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