Leave a legacy for the houses you love

Why this matters

Well over two-thirds of the UK’s listed buildings are cared for by private individuals and families, small independent trusts, or other independent, custodians — not by the state or a national conservation charity. Historic Houses represents over 1,400 of these independently owned houses and gardens across the whole of the UK — places that welcomed 21.3 million visits last year and generated around £1 billion for the economy, while supporting 12,000 full-time jobs and 14,000 volunteers.

None of that survives on visitor income alone. Our members report a combined backlog of £2 billion in repair and maintenance work still to be done, against average annual spending of only around £160,000 each. Nearly half of our member places have had to delay or cancel urgent repairs for lack of funds in recent years. And changes to inheritance tax reliefs announced in the October 2024 Budget mean 87% of our members now expect to be negatively affected, over half say it will stop them developing or diversifying their business, and four in ten expect it to mean redundancies or a hiring freeze.

Public grants meet only a fraction of this. Whether these houses survive, and stay open to people like you, still comes down largely to what their owners — and the people who love visiting them — put in.

What a legacy gift actually does

Historic Houses is a not-for-profit cooperative association, established by its member places, for its member places. Gifts to Historic Houses fund our essential work representing, advising, and supporting our houses and their custodians.

We also offer our own Small Projects Grant Scheme, which pays for smaller, faster conservation and engagement projects that might otherwise never happen. Recent grants have paid for things you could go and see for yourself: the reproduction of two historic garments from portraits at Inveraray Castle, made in part by a dressmaker working in the castle itself; new research into a rare 1626 double portrait at Penshurst Place, undertaken with the National Portrait Gallery; a full digital catalogue of the internationally significant plant collection at Tregrehan; new community outreach work at The Bishop’s Palace; and new co-curated displays made with the almshouse residents at The Charterhouse.

None of this is abstract conservation-in-general. It’s specific work, at specific houses, that wouldn’t have happened without gifts like the one you’re considering.

We have ambitions to expand this grant scheme, and legacies will play a major role in allowing us to do that.

How we handle your gift

Historic Houses is not a registered charity — we’re a membership organisation, working directly for our member houses and gardens. Gifts left to us in a will are received and spent by Historic Houses itself.

That’s worth knowing when you talk to your solicitor, because it affects how a legacy should be worded and how it sits alongside the rest of your estate. Our past experience has been that its usually possible to arrange bequests such that we receive all the money you leave us, despite not having a charity number. We’re happy to put you in touch with a solicitor experienced in this kind of gift, or simply talk through your questions before you go to yours.

How to leave a gift

Speak to your solicitor or will-writer about the kind of gift that suits your circumstances:

• A residuary gift — a share of whatever’s left in your estate once other gifts and debts are settled
• A pecuniary gift — a fixed sum
• A specific gift — a particular asset, such as an item of value

You can leave your gift unrestricted, so we can direct it wherever it’s needed most, or specify an area you’d like it to support (such as our Small Project Grant Scheme). Gifts in memory of someone can also be arranged, usually through funeral directors, as a lasting tribute.