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The Licensing Office is involved with the administration of registrations for house to house collections, which involves the persons who are to do the collecting making visits to public houses, factories and offices as well as houses, to collect money or goods on the basis that part of the proceeds will go to a charity.
The registration of a house to house collection is free. A permit is required to undertake a 'house to house' collection, under the House to House Collections Act 1939.
Whereas street collection permits are normally issued to cover a period of one or two days, a house to house collection permit can be granted for any period up to one year. With regard to vetting and checking to ascertain whether the organisation applying is genuine or not, the same procedures apply as for street collections.
As with street collection permits there is a requirement for the promoter of the collection to make a return following the collection.
Unlike street collections, there is a statutory right of appeal against the refusal to grant a house to house collection permit. In this case, the right of appeal is to the Secretary of State, and the grounds for refusal are set out in the Act itself.
One of the key grounds for refusal would be where the total amount likely to be applied for charitable purpose as a result of the collection, is inadequate in proportion to the value of the proceeds likely to be received. So, for instance, where an applicant intends to claim a fair proportion of the proceeds of the collection for expenses, a permit could be refused. There is no statutory guidance to local authorities on what would be a reasonable amount for expenses.
You can download an application form here (Pdf document size 92 KB) or request one from our Licensing Office. Please also contact our Licensing Office (our main Licensing Office page contains full contact details) over any other matters you may have regarding house to house collections.
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