Community Hall Repair Funding

Question

We are the Custodian Trustees of a Hall, it once belonged to the council, but many years ago a unincorporated charitable trust was set up and was gifted the from the council t the charity. Over the years there have been many discussions as to who is actually responsible for the fabric maintenance of the building and because the charity is probably not really viable, the council has been assisting in various ways. Recently the trustees decided to remove their personal liability by creating an incorporated charity which will own the hall but at present the deed transfer has not been completed and the council are still custodians of the deeds. The hall is in much needed repair but it is a vast sum of money needed. The council have decided to provide a substantial endowment on transfer of the deeds but they are also considering providing additional ongoing funds, with what appears to be very little thought about future liabilities. My question is two fold, under what legislation can the funds be provided? I am being told LGA 1894 S8(1)(i) but I believe we need to actually own the building for this legislation. Secondly does anyone have any guidance as to how we can limit our liability going forward if we commit to an assistance grant of any sort.

Answer 1

You are correct in your assertion that the section from the 1894 act refers to Parish Property, so if you have gifted the property to a third party, regardless of who that third party may be, it would no longer be Parish Property. At the time of transfer, there should have been a legal document defining the terms of the transfer and that document should have included future financial and maintenance responsibilities. A custodian trustee holds no responsibility for the management or maintenance, so you are under no obligation to provide an endowment when transferring the deeds.

Before making any commitment, I suggest that you take a serious look at the condition of the building and assess its social value to your community. Sometimes closure is the right approach, however unpalatable that may seem. I suggest you contact your local ACRE branch (check www.acre.org.uk if you don't know your local branch) as they are the experts in community building management.

Comments

Many thanks, much appreciated.