We seem to have more churches than anywhere else. During the 19th century, a religious fervour gripped the country and it found expression in buildings, hundreds and hundreds of them.

As well as stone churches of every possible size, shape and date, there are still examples dotted around the Highlands of small churches that were bought from mail order catalogues in the 1900s. These painted, corrugated-iron buildings, known as tin tabernacles, could be ordered with fancy barge boarding, vestries and other add-ons.

The Disruption, a row in 1843 about who was allowed to appoint ministers, was the most potent driver of the religions building boom. In a matter of a few years, villages that for centuries had a single kirk had four or five new ones under way. The result was that by 1929, the reunion of the factions of the Scottish Church meant there were just too many churches. The mail order catalogues folded and the sales began.

Today, it is becoming difficult to fill even one of these on a Sunday, and the trickle for sale is likely to become a flood. And as conversion projects, churches have the potential to become the most spectacular, and often inexpensive, houses imaginable.

The Church of Scotland’s property office in Edinburgh says it sells about 12 a year. It has two churches on its website, www.cofsproperties.org.uk. The first is a church and hall in Killearn, near Glasgow, for sale at offers over £100,000, and the Birse church in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, at offers over £20,000.

At Aboyne you only get the solum — the 2,007 sq ft enclosed by the walls — as the council, explaining the difference in price, owns the graveyard around it. The cost per square foot may appear remarkably cheap but the pitfalls surrounding the conversion of churches can be considerable. You can buy a church for £2,000 but if it is listed, the owner has to keep it weatherproof.

Two thirds of churches are listed by Historic Scotland, and permission to make changes are dictated by the grade. B-listed buildings need to be treated to a “fairly high standard” while A-listing is a sign of “national importance” and can be daunting to contemplate.

There are concerns that restrictions to development are causing buildings to remain empty and deteriorate quickly. The onus is on Historic Scotland, which says it is “keen to assist in finding uses”, and local councils bound by legislation.

Prices depend on how much land (if any) goes with the building, the condition, planning permission and access to services of the functional kind. If it is surrounded by a graveyard that is still in use you can’t just put in pipes and a septic tank. Even if the graveyard has been closed, you have to wait until the third generation of the relations of the deceased have died before you can apply for exhumation and re-burial (if the grave is not listed) at a cost around £300 per body.

Access is tricky too, with rules banning motorised vehicles other than hearses. But the rules can be broken, as they were in Dundee a few years ago when planners granted permission for a car park at the Constitution Road graveyard.

A further snag can be local residents. In Kinfauns, Perthshire, an estate agent has abandoned efforts to sell a church because of local objections to an application to convert it into a dwelling.

Converting a church is not always difficult. The Kilmorack gallery (www.kilmorackgallery.co.uk) near Beauly, Inverness-shire, is a wonderful example of an imaginative conversion. The gallery, which was established in 1997, has become known as a cultural centre.

Few churches today can claim to be at the heart of the community in such a way. Apart from the more usual use as offices, workshops and storage areas, in Ullapool a church is now used as a mortuary. The Wee Kirk of Forth in Lanarkshire is a squash court, while others have been turned into recording studios or ski heritage centres, and there is even one making plastic boats.

Ian Woodyer, a partner in the design practice Gardiner Russell, saw Carrington Kirk in Midlothian when it was close to collapse. On being told by an architect it would cost £1m to convert, Woodyer decided he could to do the work himself and cut the cost. The kirk, a trim T-plan built from random rubble with gothic windows and a tower, has a north-European feel but is otherwise typical of its age. But step though the door and you enter a different world.

The conversion retains most of the original volume of the building, which is open to the timber structure of its roof. Into this space has been inserted a system of levels and divisions with staircases and gangways. The walls are white, as is the structural material added on the ground floor, creating a dramatic contrast with the dark exposed timbers and roofing. There has been a kirk on the site since the 12th century. It stands in the middle of Carrington village, itself on a ridge between tributaries of the river Esk. It has a commanding position, dramatic views of the Forth, Fife and the hills of Edinburgh.

The building went up in 1710 and has changed little in the years since then. Its design, with the tower at the centre of the long elevation, is typical of the time. In 1971, the building was given category B listing because it is a good example of its type. The conversion was intended to create an open plan design studio, although it also anticipated the possible future domestic use of the Kirk. And the local authority is encouraging the creation of live/work accommodation, so planning permission for a change of use should be possible.

The ground floor is 10m by 6m and open to the roof, and all the services, including a modest kitchen, are in the rear section. The basic work has been done. Although Woodyer says the kirk is easy to heat with a storage system, round-the-clock comfort might need something bigger.

But if Midlothian is not for you, there are plenty of other churches on the market. Innes Johnston is selling a church converted into a four-bedroom house with one-third of an acre garden called Drumclog, at Milton of Balgonie, Fife at offers over £180,000. Or if you want to start from scratch, try the Buildings at Risk Bulletin published by the Scottish Civic Trust (sct@scottishcivictrust.org.uk) and you may find your vocation.

Carrington Kirk, £220,000 FPD Savills 0131 247 3700

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