House to house collection licence (England and Wales)

What this covers

Apply for a licence for house-to-house collections of money or goods for charity in England or Wales

It applies in England and Wales. Other UK nations run their own regimes — check the equivalent for the nation you trade in.

Why you need it

This licence is not an administrative preference — it exists because Parliament created it. The power to require it comes from House to House Collections Act 1939.

What the Act carries

These are the duties, penalties and exemptions our graph holds for House to House Collections Act 1939 as a whole — the Act behind this licence, not the licence conditions themselves. They show what sort of instrument you are dealing with.

Duties on businesses

5

Penalties

5

Exemptions

1

Duties on businesses under the Act

• Promote or collect for a charitable house-to-house collection without a licence s.1
• Breach of house-to-house collection regulations s.4
• Use unauthorised charity collection badge or certificate s.5
• Fail to give name and address to police when collecting for charity s.6
• Provide false information for house-to-house collection purposes s.8

What happens if you get it wrong

• Provide false information for house-to-house collection purposes 6 months imprisonment
• Breach of house-to-house collection regulations
• Fail to give name and address to police when collecting for charity
• Promote or collect for a charitable house-to-house collection without a licence
• Use unauthorised charity collection badge or certificate

Exemptions that may take you outside it

• National charities exempt from local collection licensing — Charity operating throughout England or a substantial part, granted an exemption order by the Secretary of State

Read our full dossier on House to House Collections Act 1939

Who issues it

Your local council issues this, acting as the licensing authority for the area you trade in. Councils apply the same statute but set their own fees, conditions and timescales, so two neighbouring authorities can reach you differently.

Where to apply

Our guidance on this

Everything below is written out in full elsewhere on Guvnor — this page points at it rather than repeating it.

Licences that often go with this one

Businesses in the same activities usually need one or more of these too.

Duty, penalty and exemption labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the enabling instrument, not the instrument itself. Fees, forms and conditions are set by the issuing authority — always check the linked source.

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