Charity land: overview for selling or leasing your charity’s land
Updated 7 March 2024
Applies to England and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sales-leases-transfers-or-mortgages-what-trustees-need-to-know-about-disposing-of-charity-land-cc28/charity-land-overview-for-selling-or-leasing-your-charitys-land
This overview only focuses on sales and leases of charity land as they are the most common types of charity land disposal.
The aim of this overview is to help you understand which parts of our main guidance on land disposals will be relevant to you. You should read the detail in the main guidance: Charity land: Selling, leasing or otherwise disposing of charity land in England and Wales.
Before you sell or lease charity land, you must be certain that:
- your charity owns the land and
- the sale or lease is in the best interests of your charity
Understand what we mean by the word ‘land’ .
Step 1
Check that you have a power to sell or lease the land. Are you able to use a power in your charity’s governing document or use the power in the law?
Read ‘Know if you have the power to dispose of the land’ for full details.
Step 2
Check whether you are:
- selling the land or
- granting a lease for more than 7 years or
- granting a lease for 7 years or less with a fine or premium or
- granting a lease for 7 years or less with an option to extend the lease
If you are doing any of these, you must follow these ‘Legal requirements for sales and ‘long’ leases’.
If you are granting a lease for 7 years or less without a fine or premium or an option to extend, then you must follow these different ‘Legal requirements for ‘short’ leases’
Step 3
Check whether you are selling or leasing land to a connected person.
If the disposal is to a connected person, the requirements are the same whether the transaction is a sale, long lease or short lease. You must get authority from the Commission before you sell or lease the land.
Read ‘When you must get Charity Commission authority’ for full details.
Step 4
Check whether you are selling or leasing designated land.
Read ‘Disposing of designated land’ for full details.
If you are then there are additional legal requirements you must follow and you may need authority from the Commission.
Step 5
Check whether your sale or lease falls within a list of exemptions. If it does, you may not need to comply with all the legal requirements, for example if:
- your charity is an exempt charity
- the sale or lease is being arranged by a liquidator, provisional liquidator, receiver, mortgagee or administrator
Check ‘Exemptions to the legal requirements for sales, leases and other types of disposals’.