Charity Governance
New almshouses have been founded in every century for over a thousand years. All almshouse charities have volunteer unpaid trustees. Larger charities also have paid staff and some have an executive team and a Chief Executive Officer: they are also more likely to provide housing with on-site support staff, sometimes called sheltered housing. Our seven research partners reflect the wide range of almshouse charities, with foundations dating from the 15th to the 21st century, and almshouses ranging from a few bungalows to large blocks of flats on different sites. Some partners also provide care homes and grants to local voluntary organisations.
Our research partners also support and manage around 30 small almshouse charities in their regions, usually by acting as ‘corporate trustees’. This means that each independent charity retains its unique identity, whilst benefitting from the skills, experience and knowledge of the larger charity’s trustees and staff. Like all almshouse charities, these small charities derive their unique identities from their founders and benefactors and any subsequent changes that have been made.
All almshouse charities are regulated by the Charity Commission. Some almshouse charities are also Registered Providers of Social Housing, because of previous or potential access to social housing grant, so they are also regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing. Because almshouse charities operate under charity law, this results in some differences compared with other social housing. Almshouses cannot be bought under a ‘right to buy’. When a new almshouse resident is offered an almshouse home, they receive a ‘Letter of Appointment’ because they are ‘benefitting’ as ‘beneficiaries’ of a charity, so they are not tenants with tenancy rights.
The Equalities Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination, harassment or victimisation and lists nine Protected Characteristics, including marriage or civil partnership, religion or belief and sex. The Act also includes an exception which allows charities to limit the benefits to some groups only, even though this may exclude others. For example, some almshouse charities still provide almshouses for men or women only; for people who are married, widows or spinsters; and for people from a specific Christian denomination. This is permitted if the charity’s governing document (rules) restricts applicants to some groups only, and the charity can meet certain tests. Charities can also apply to the Charity Commission if there are reasons why they need to broaden their criteria for residents. See Diversity and Inclusion: Governance for more on the Equality Act and almshouse charities. See Additional Information below for the Charity Commission Code of Governance and guidance.
The history of each charity is still alive today, but the history may not always be helpful if there is too much emphasis on the past, rather than on current and future needs. Trustees and senior staff described their role as custodians of the legacies of their founders. However, times have changed since charities were founded in past centuries and our partners were reinterpreting their legacies for the 21st century. Almshouse charities may have requirements for applicants and residents which would not apply in other social housing. A staff member reflected on different attitudes to rule changes by their almshouse residents:
“I wanted to recognise the almshouse history but also update policies and break down the paternalism. Some residents were all for it, but the older generation couldn’t get past that change.”
(Governance 10)
Another partner explained that trustees and staff ask what their enterprising Victorian founder would do today:
“[We ask ourselves] ‘How do you think [the founder] would deal with this situation [today]?’ It’s a good starting point.”
(Governance 6)
Changes to governance structure and strategic direction have had a significant impact. Many interviewees stressed that the executive team is now responsible for day-to-day management and the role of trustees is to support, direct and focus on strategy. One partner described the difference between current practice and the past:
“The Board [of trustees] was traditional and paternalistic, with no strategy or clear vision or direction, reactive rather than planned. Now the right information goes to trustees with the right level of scrutiny and questioning, and our main board looks at strategy, the big decisions.”
(Governance 6)
This quote is from one of two partners that use a traffic lights system for topics in a Board meeting to make clear whether an item is for approval, assurance or discussion, so that a two-hour meeting still allows enough time for debate on important issues.
Some partners found that moving to early evening hybrid Board meetings, focused committees and time-limited working groups helped them to recruit trustees who were still working as part of their succession planning for trustees and chairs. Succession planning for key staff included retirement. For more on succession planning, see Long-term and Continuity Planning.
Almshouse charities have different legal structures. Larger charities are more likely to have a separate legal identity with limited liability, either as a charitable company limited by guarantee or as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation). The charity owns the assets (including land and buildings) and enters into contracts. For some partners, changes to their legal structure clarified responsibilities and trustees’ liability, helping them to become more resilient.
Most small almshouse charities are ‘unincorporated’. An unincorporated charity does not exist as a legal person, so it is the trustees who own the assets and enter into contracts. One trustee retiring after many years as trustee of a small unincorporated almshouse charity had concerns about attracting new trustees, because of the risks for trustees:
“We need to futureproof our board and … become a CIO because, if I’d known then what I know now… I wouldn’t have been a trustee.”
(Governance 23)
All our partner charities have a separate legal identity. Interviewees commented on the professionalisation of staff teams and Boards, including how working trustees can bring wider skills and experience:
“It’s a new Board, we’ve got professionals in housing and other sectors. They love that it’s real, you do deal with the financial impact but at a human level. You can be sitting at a table with people who live with the consequences of your decisions, that’s rewarding.”
(Governance 17)
Meeting regulatory requirements is essential for good governance. Partners made governance changes to meet both regulatory requirements and good practice advice in the Codes of Governance from the Charity Commission and, for Registered Providers of Social Housing, the National Housing Federation. They have introduced skills audits, time limits and induction for trustees and plans for annual appraisals:
“Historically, a lot of charities dealt with the local great and the good … You need people who know what they’re doing, there’s such risk involved.”
(Governance 12)
For many charities, their main asset is the almshouse land and buildings. Some, including small almshouse charities, may struggle to afford to maintain or improve their almshouses. With low weekly charges, they are not future-proofing their charities. In such cases, charities can be at risk of failure and local communities will lose the almshouses that were the legacy of past benefactors.
Weekly Maintenance Charges for almshouse residents are similar to rent but different in law. For our partners, charges were usually close to the local authority’s Local Housing Allowance for Housing Benefit claims, to help to repair and maintain their housing. For more details on Weekly Maintenance Charges and Housing Benefit, see Stability for the Organisation. Where endowments from founders and benefactors have increased in value over time, some partners were able to build new almshouses with little or no grant funding and use endowment income for grants to local voluntary organisations.
