Cost Savings
Working on a rent-free basis means the charity can save a substantial amount of money. This can be redirected towards their core charitable activities.
HOW WE WORK
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Introduction For Charities Looking For Premises
If you’re looking for charity office space or retail premises, you have come to the right place. ASTOP proactively connects charities and not-for-profit organisations, like you, with landlords that have empty premises to fill. It is a genuine win-win scenario.
Our collaborations work because they all allow landlords to save money while providing good causes with rent-free temporary spaces throughout the UK. By offering free office space for charities, ASTOP’s landlords gain empty property business rates relief. Donated office space and commercial premises are also less likely to fall into disrepair. This mutually beneficial approach, widely approved by local and national government, has meant countless UK charities have benefited from over 500 empty properties since 2009.
Connecting Charities with Space
ASTOP can provide a range of office and retail as well as industrial warehouse space to charities and non-profit organisations. Typically we help by enabling short, flexible leases with landlords who wish to avoid leaving their properties empty. It is an ideal solution for those looking for nonprofit coworking spaces, free meeting rooms, free storage space or free retail space for charities.
Charitable Property Initiatives
We have been behind some of the UK’s most successful charity property initiatives including finding premises for Mind, Age UK, Rotary International, Lions International and Freecycle.
ASTOP charitable property partnerships are a legal, ethical way to manage local tax liabilities and save both the landlord and charity considerable amounts of money. In many cases, the community benefits from free charity space far outweigh any perceived losses.
Charities Seeking Space
If you are one of the many UK charities looking for space in a commercial property, a good place to start is watching our video or contacting our team.
ASTOP can provide advice and potentially introduce you to appropriate landlords. Our team can help you find rent-free, legal rolling tenancy/licence agreements. Any savings to the property business rates are shared between the landlords, us and you, as the good cause. Everyone wins.
ASTOP’s service presents a low-risk, legal and proven way to combine the twin needs of charities, non-profit organisations and commercial landlords. We work with the latter to legitimately reduce their business rates on empty and unused assets. Currently, tax deductions for donating office space to a nonprofit typically sit at 50% of business rates. Charities can benefit from an 80% reduction too.
Free Space for Charities
How do we find free space charities? ASTOP and its associates have an extensive UK-wide network that has allowed us to build relationships with some of the country’s major property businesses including the William Pears Group, Savills, Landsec, CBRE and British Land.
Our schemes have been accepted by more than 100 of the UK’s local authorities. We’ve been commended by dozens of local councillors and MPs across the UK political spectrum.
Although funding is normally hard to source for initiatives run from free premises due to the uncertain nature of the tenancy, ASTOP has been able to advise, source funding and provide other in-kind support to help charities feel more at home. Some of our short-term arrangements have grown into long-term permanent relationships.
Maximising The Benefits Of Free Space
Collaborating with ASTOP offers several benefits to any UK charity, nonprofit or good cause. Examples include the following:
Increased Visibility
A high-street or commercial location will enhance a charity’s visibility and credibility and attract more users, volunteers, donors and partners.
Networking Opportunities
Well-chosen premises mean a charity can connect with other like-minded organisations and foster collaborations, skills sharing and partnerships.
Better Working
Having a dedicated, high-quality office or retail space will create a more structured and professional work environment, leading to happier and more productive staff and volunteers.
Flexibility
Short-term changeable lease terms allow charities to adapt their office space requirements based on their changing needs.
Mission Focus
With the burden of premises-related stresses lifted, the charity can focus more on its core mission and activities ultimately benefiting end users.
Empowering Charities & Nonprofit Organisations
Free office and retail spaces empower UK charities by initially alleviating the financial burden of traditional rental arrangements. Free space enables charities to direct more resources towards their core missions and charitable activities.
Secondly, these spaces provide a professional environment for charities to operate from. A well-maintained, professional space enhances the charity’s credibility, encouraging trust among stakeholders including donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries. This improved image has been proven to lead to increased support and donations.
Finally, donated office and retail spaces often facilitate collaboration and networking. Several local charities can operate from an empty high street retail space, for example. Being surrounded by other charities means an exchange of ideas, resources, and best practices is more likely. Networking opportunities in such spaces can result in valuable partnerships, enabling charities to expand their reach and impact.
In addition to connecting charities with empty office space, ASTOP’s Charity Property Consultancy service helps nonprofits navigate the complexities of securing the right property for their needs. By offering expert advice and access to a network of landlords, ASTOP ensures that good causes are paired with suitable premises, enabling them to save on rent and redirect those funds into vital charitable work.
Supporting Local Communities
Charity beneficiaries include vulnerable groups typically welcome at charity premises in easily accessible High Street locations. If more than one charity operates from one location, all the better. One-stop-shop collaborative community spaces have emerged as invaluable assets in many of the UK’s most deprived communities. In our experience, shared spaces can quickly become focal points for social change, growth and development. These spaces, often shared by charitable organisations and good causes with aligned goals, offer a nurturing environment of optimised resources, shared solutions and joined-up thinking.
Real World Success Stories
Matching charities with the right landlord is key to ASTOP’s work. Our projects depend on successfully aligning charity and non-profit organisation goals with commercial landlords who wish to reduce the costs associated with empty profits. If you are a charity or non-profit, what is stopping you from taking advantage of free office and retail space? Signing up for free office and retail space whilst saving landlords from excessive costs means a positive outcome for all parties. Why not see if we can help you?
If you’re still not convinced, it is worth reading testimonials from the people we work with. We have helped charities partner with Barclays, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Savills, Land Securities, Pearl & Coots and more. You can read more success stories here.
“The Global Educational Trust has a free bookshop in Bishop Auckland and, having visited the shop recently, I was very impressed… an innovative and worthwhile use of what was previously an empty shop, and a valuable contribution to the revitalisation of the town centre, this is an initiative I wholeheartedly support.”
Helen Goodman
MP for Bishop Auckland
“My colleagues and I have found ASTOP’s social goal of transforming unused spaces for good causes to be easy to understand, explain and introduce to charities and landlords/agents alike… Thank you for your support of BitC and our commercial and social networks.”
David Camm
RH Prince Charles’ Business Connector Programme
GET IN TOUCH
Join Us in Making a Difference
ASTOP has a proven track record of finding free office space and retail premises for a wide range of UK charities and nonprofit good causes. We do this by partnering them with commercial landlords who need support mitigating the risks and costs of empty properties.
If that sounds like something you would benefit from, contact our team today.