If you want to visit houses or other premises to collect money or goods (that you plan to sell at a later date) for charity, you will need to get a licence from us. Certain larger charities have permission form the Home Office to collect.

If you don’t get a licence before starting house to house collections you could face up to 6 months in prison and a fine of up to £1,000.

Applications

At least 28 days notice must be given to arrange the necessary licences.

  Apply for a house to house collection licence Opens in a new window

It will be necessary, once permission has been granted, to obtain Collectors Badges from The Stationary Office and comply with a number of other conditions.

Fees

There is no fee for the licence.

Returns

Once the collections have taken place, you must tell us how much has been collected and how the monies have been allocated.

  Supply a return for a house to house collection Opens in a new window

It is our policy to not have more than one charity collecting at any one location at any one time.

In addition collections for non-Torbay based charities can only take place on Saturdays between April and September, unless they are for an individual. 

There are also many terms and conditions to granting a permit. 

Street Collection Regulations 2006
Details of the terms and conditions for granting a street collections permit.
It is in the public interest that we must process your application before it can be granted. You cannot provide, operate or undertake the licensable activity without a licence and submitting an application form does not guarantee that a licence will be granted.
Additionally if a ‘Return’ is not submitted after the collection, then no new licence will be issued in the future until a ‘Return’ has been received.
If an applicant has not had a response within 28 working days please contact us.

Contact Licensing

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