House To House Collections

The House to House Collections Act 1939
Local Government Act 1972
House Collections Regulations 1947 and 1963

The House to House Collections Act 1939 as amended by the Local Government Act 1972 and the House to House Collections Regulations 1947 and 1963 give the Local Authority power to regulate collections made from house to house for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes.

It is an offence to make a house to house collection for a charitable purpose without the promoter first obtaining a licence from the local authority for the particular area(s) where the collection is to take place.

This means that if a collection is to take place in an area which covers more than one local authority, the approval of the local authority for each area will be required before the collection can take place in that particular area.

No collection, from house to house, (including public house to public house) shall be made without a licence issued by the Council EXCEPT where that person or organisation holds an Order of Exemption issued by the Secretary of State. If your organisation holds an Order of Exemption it is regarded as best practice to notify the local authority of the details of your collections to avoid overlapping collections.

In order to try to avoid a situation where two or more collections are taking place in the same area at the same time, the Council maintains a register of collections. Prospective applicants are requested to liaise with the Council regarding the dates when and the areas within the South Bucks District where it is proposed to make the house to house collection.

Useful Links and Information

• The Charity Commission (Opens new window to external site)
• The Institute of Fundraising (Opens new window to external site)
• Charity Facts (Opens new window to external site)
• Fundraising UK (Opens new window to external site)
• HMSO (Opens new window to external site)