Charitable house to house collections licence

You need a licence to collect money or clothing and bric-a-brac for charity from houses and other premises. This also applies to collections from public houses. However, if items for collection are left at a number of public houses and collected at a later date, no licence is needed.

Licences can be issued for a period of up to one year.

You don't need a house to house collection licence to collect Direct Debit pledges. This is 'data' and not 'money or other property' as defined in the House to House Collections Act 1939.

Fee

There is no fee for a house to house collection licence.

How to apply

To apply for this licence you need to send us all of the following:

  • Charitable licence application form. This needs to be in the name of the collecting company, not the charity name (unless the charity is the collector). You need to use Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill this form in. If you need any help to use this form please contact us online.
  • Details of the organisation, including the objectives of the charitable cause. Where the collection is for a local cause, you need to give full details of that cause or event.
  • A copy of the published profit and loss accounts for the last two years for the collecting company. These must clearly show:
    • the total amounts collected
    • the amount and percentage of the total collections going to charity
    • sundry and general expenses
    • money for wages, fuels, printing, bags, etc
  • A copy of statement of accounts from the last three or four collections carried out. This includes any collections held in other licensing authority areas.
  • A letter from the charity authorising you to carry out a collection on their behalf. (You don't need to provide this if you're an official of the organisation.)
  • An agreement or contract details with any registered charity or person benefiting from this collection.
  • A copy of the leaflet or bag showing the collector and charity name. This should adhere to the Advertising Standards Authority guidelines.

Please also read our charitable house to house guidelines before you apply.

You need to send your application form and all of the documents to us either by:

What happens next

When we receive your application we'll consult with the police. In some cases we'll also consult with the charity commissioners. We'll aim to process your application within 14 days.

We'll grant your licence if we're satisfied that you're a fit and proper person to make the collections.

You'll need to send us a statement of return within 30 days of the date your licence expires. If your licence is for more than three months, you need to submit this ideally after each collection, but at least once every three months.

Tacit consent

Tacit consent applies for this licence. This means if you've not heard from us after 20 working days, you can act as though your application is granted. This timescale only starts when we've received all information we need from you.

Tacit consent only applies if:

  • you've applied for the licence by email.
  • you've applied for the licence by post and can show proof of delivery from a post office or courier.

More details

These licences are issued under the House to House Collections Act 1939. For more advice you can visit the Fundraising Regulator and Charity Commission websites.

Complaints against a collector

If you have a complaint against a collector please contact us online with the details.