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Question Title: Charity landlord
| Question: 413 |
| A local charity has asked us to take over the day to day management of a number of properties that they own in the area. Are there any particular problems having a charity as a landlord over ordinary landlords?
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| Answer: |
Property can, generally speaking, only be owned by individuals or corporations. Charitable property is owned by the trustees in trust for the charity. The trustees of any charity which owns land have certain general duties in relation to it. These duties are prescribed by law and they apply whether the land is used by the charity for its own purposes, or whether the land is let to produce an income for the charity. These general duties are:
- trustees are individually and jointly responsible for the protection, management and supervision of the land;
- in managing the land, trustees must act only in the interests of the charity and its beneficiaries;
- trustees must act honestly and use the same degree of care as they would prudently exercise in dealing with their own business affairs;
- they must maintain overall control of the management of their land;
- trustees must seek advice from independent professional advisers acting exclusively for the charity; and
- any decision to dispose of or mortgage land must be taken by the trustees acting together.
Agents should be aware of these duties but otherwise deal with them as you would other landlords. However on tenancy agreements the landlords should be referred to as the "Trustees of ..............................".
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