Chancel repair liability: The ancient law that could hit house prices

In short, a law can hold private home owners responsible for paying the bills for repairing churches built before 1536. This seems to mean that individual homeowners can be on the hook for up to £250,000 to fund the repair of a church, simply because they happen to be nearby.

Of course, there is similar insanity in the US. If an endangered species is found on your property, your right to modify your property as you see fit can be wiped out. The differences are important; not least being that if *you* find the endangered species first, you can whack it upside the head and bury it. If a British homeowner decides that the best approach to a massive repair bill for something he doesn’t own is to burn that something to the ground, someone will probably notice.