Setting up a charity

The AHF can help you to set up a charity if you represent a voluntary or community group whose main aim is to restore and preserve one or more historic buildings. In the majority of cases the most appropriate kind of charity will be a building preservation trust (BPT).

If the charity is restoring a building for sale or letting, the AHF's standard governing document is likely to be sufficient without significant alteration.

If the charity intends to keep and operate the building in the longer term, it may need to add additional objects and powers, though it will need to take external legal advice on this.

In either case, please contact the AHF as soon as possible so that it can advise on the best course of action. If a BPT does prove to be the most suitable for your group, the AHF can supply a Standard Governing Document for building preservation trusts, which is recognised by the Charity Commission in England & Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland and the Inland Revenue in Northern Ireland: it is strongly advised that this model is followed. There are separate versions for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (by downloading the pdf file from this site; or as a Word file (which can be amended to produce the final documents) by email free on request; or as a hard copy by post).

If the end use, rather than the rescue of the building, is your organisation’s prime objective (e.g. running a community centre or arts activities etc) then the BPT structure and the AHF standard governing document, although providing a useful model, may not always be appropriate.

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