How do we change our name?

England and Wales: This page sets out the position in full. Scotland: the opposite rule — you need OSCR’s consent before the change, though it is treated as given if OSCR does not answer in time. Northern Ireland: the same shape as England and Wales — you change the name and tell CCNI afterwards.

Do you need permission to change a charity’s name?

Not in England and Wales or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, yes. Much of what you will read online says you need the regulator’s permission to change a charity’s name. That describes Scotland.

This page assumes you know your structure and the amendment route it uses. If not, check which amendment route your charity uses first.

In England and Wales, a name is not on either list of changes that need the Charity Commission’s authority. You make the change under your own procedure. Then the trustees tell the Commission. That is their duty under the Charities Act 2011 s.35(3), which covers any change in the charity’s registered particulars.

Northern Ireland is the same shape. Under the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, a voluntary name change is not a regulated alteration. Section 17(3) is the duty to tell CCNI afterwards.

Scotland is the exception. The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 s.11 says, in Scotland, that “a charity may change its name only with OSCR’s consent”. The section “Scotland: consent first” sets out how that works.

Will the Commission approve a name in advance?

No. Say you write to the Commission first and ask if your new name is fine. It will not give you an answer. Its guidance on choosing a charity name, word for word:

“We cannot guarantee, reserve or suggest a name.”

The Commission in England and Wales does have a power to require a change after the event, under Charities Act 2011 s.42. The power is reactive. It is not a clearance scheme.

If the Commission gives such a direction, the trustees must act on it, whatever their own rules say. Section 43(1), word for word: the trustees “must give effect to it regardless of anything in the trusts of the charity.”

For a charitable company, that direction is carried out by a resolution of the directors alone. The members do not vote. CCNI has the same kind of reactive power in Northern Ireland, under ss.20–21 of the 2008 Act.

So do your own checks before you choose, as a new charity does when it chooses its name. Search the register of charities and the Companies House index. Check domain names and trade marks. Tool: Charity name checker (planned).

How the change is made, by structure

The name sits in a different place for each structure. So the route differs. This is the England and Wales position.

Structure	Who decides, and by what majority	When the new name takes effect
Charitable company	special resolution, 75% (CA2006 s.283) unless the articles provide another means	The date Companies House issues the new certificate of incorporation — not the date of the resolution.
CIO	75% of those voting at a general meeting (including proxy/postal), or unanimously otherwise than at a general meeting — s.224(2). 14 clear days' notice under CIO Regs reg 35.	The day the members pass the resolution, or a later date set in it. A name is not a purposes change, so it does not wait for the Commission to register it.
Unincorporated association	statutory power: a majority of all the trustees, then 75% of members attending and voting at a general meeting (or unanimity otherwise, or no dissent at a meeting) — s.280A(5). Governing-document power: as that power says.	The day the members’ resolution passes, or a later date set in it.
Trust	statutory power: 75% of all the charity trustees — s.280A(6). There is no member vote to hold. Some trust governing documents require amendment by DEED.	The day the trustees’ resolution passes, or a later date set in it.

A change of name does not affect the charity’s rights or obligations. Contracts, leases, legacies and legal proceedings carry on under the new name.

A charitable company: the certificate date, and filing twice

Two things catch charitable companies in England and Wales, and both come from the Companies Act 2006. A charitable company’s other filings are covered in file with Companies House.

The name changes on the certificate date, not the meeting date. Companies Act 2006 s.81(1), word for word:

“A change of a company’s name has effect from the date on which the new certificate of incorporation is issued.”

Not the date of the resolution, and not the date you file it. Until the new certificate is issued, the company does not have the new name. Say a charity starts using it on the day of the members’ meeting. It is then using a name it does not yet have.

Hold the new letterhead, signage and bank changes until the certificate arrives.

The company files twice. Companies Act 2006 s.78(1), word for word:

“Where a change of name has been agreed to by a company by special resolution, the company must give notice to the registrar. This is in addition to the obligation to forward a copy of the resolution to the registrar.”

So the company sends a notice of the change. Separately, it sends a copy of the resolution. Each has its own deadline:

notice of the change must be given to the registrar (s.78(1)) IN ADDITION to filing the resolution itself (s.30, within 15 days). If the articles were amended, an updated copy must also go in within 15 days (s.26).

Missing the 15-day filing of the special resolution is an offence by the company and by every officer in default (Companies Act 2006 s.30). The penalty is a fine of up to £1,000. A continuing failure adds a daily default fine. An officer is ‘in default’ if they authorised, permitted or took part in the failure, or failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

One point is not settled. If your articles recite the charity’s name, you may need to amend them as well as get a new certificate. Whether the Commission treats the articles as needing amendment in that case was not established by our research. If your articles name the charity, ask the Commission or take advice before you file.

A CIO still has a Companies House step, sometimes

A CIO never files at Companies House. But CIOs sit in the index of company names. This matters if your new main name, or a new working name, contains a sensitive word. You then need Companies House approval before you use it. Some sensitive words also need a Statement of Non-Objection from another body.

The Commission names five words that do not need approval: charity, charitable, association, foundation and trust.

After the members’ resolution, the CIO sends the Commission its amended constitution.

Working names count too

A working name is the name you use day to day, if it differs from the legal name. It is not part of your governing document. Changing it needs a trustee decision, minuted, not an amendment.

A working name is still a registered particular. The Commission must be told about a new working name, as it must be told about a new main name. And the sensitive-word rule for CIOs applies to working names as well.

What does a name change cost?

The Charity Commission charges £0 to change a name. A CIO, trust or unincorporated association pays £0 in statutory fees.

One caveat, stated plainly. No Commission page says “there is no fee” in so many words. The zero is inferred from two things. The Commission’s change-of-details service shows no fee. And the Commission charges no registration or filing fees.

A charitable company pays Companies House:

• £20 online
• £20 by software
• £30 on paper
• £85 for a same-day change, online or by software only

Companies House fees change several times a year. So we review these fees more often than any other figure we cite. The real costs are elsewhere: signage, stationery, the website, telling funders and the bank. This page does not cover those.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland reverses the order, with OSCR’s consent first; Northern Ireland follows England and Wales.

Scotland: consent first

In Scotland the order is reversed. The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 s.11 is a separate consent gateway for names only. It is not s.16, which covers purposes, amalgamation and dissolution. The rule, in Scotland:

CTISA 2005 s.11 (as amended 1 April 2024 by the 2023 Act, SSI 2024/63): (1) "A charity may change its name only with OSCR's consent." (2) The charity must give OSCR notice specifying the proposed new name. (3) 28-DAY DEEMED CONSENT — unless OSCR within 28 days refuses consent or directs the charity not to use that name for up to 6 months, OSCR is to be taken as having given its consent. (4) OSCR may refuse only on s.10 objectionable-name grounds (same/too like another charity; misleading; false impression of connection; offensive). (5) (new, 1 April 2024) OSCR may, at the charity's request, consent to a DIFFERENT name than the one proposed.

OSCR’s guidance then sets out the order of steps for a Scottish charity:

Working/trading name: no consent needed, just email OSCR so the register stays accurate. Company/ SCIO: check for sensitive words with Companies House, then get OSCR consent, THEN register the change with Companies House — the name does not actually change until Companies House updates its own register. Three outcomes: consent / refusal (with reasons and review rights) / direction not to change (up to 6 months). After consent, the charity makes the change per its governing document, then MUST NOTIFY OSCR WITHIN 3 MONTHS; OSCR updates the Scottish Charity Register only on receipt of that notification. No fee found anywhere — application is a free online form (absence-based inference).

A Scottish charitable company still pays the same Companies House fee as one in England and Wales.

Northern Ireland: tell CCNI afterwards

Northern Ireland follows the England and Wales shape. Under the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008:

Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 s.96(3) — NI's "regulated alteration" list for charitable companies is objects / dissolution-property clause / director-benefit clause. Name is NOT on it. No CCNI consent is needed in advance, mirroring the England & Wales finding that a name is not a regulated alteration.

After the change, the trustees must tell CCNI. Section 17(3) of the 2008 Act, in Northern Ireland, requires them to “notify the Commission… if there is any change in its trusts or in the particulars of it entered in the register”. A name is a registered particular.

A Northern Irish charitable company uses the same Companies Act 2006 steps as one in England and Wales, including the certificate date. An unincorporated charity uses the power in its own governing document, or the statutory power in s.127 of the 2008 Act.

Section 127 itself needs no CCNI consent. But check your own governing document: some add a consent condition of their own. CCNI publishes a target time for dealing with the change. That target is a working aim, not a legal limit.

The order of steps in England and Wales

For an England and Wales charity, in this order:

1. Check the name against the register of charities and the Companies House index. For a CIO, check for sensitive words.
2. Pass the resolution under your governing document, at the majority your structure needs.
3. Charitable company: file the notice of change and the resolution at Companies House, and amended articles if you have them. Wait for the new certificate.
4. Tell the Commission through your charity’s online account. Upload the resolution. A company also uploads the new certificate. A CIO uploads its new governing document.
5. Start using the name — for a company, only once the certificate is issued.

Exempt charities cannot use the online service for a name change. They go to their principal regulator instead. Keeping the register current generally is covered in keep your register entry current.

If the name is one of several changes, amend your governing document covers the others you can make yourselves. A change of purposes is covered in change your charitable purposes.

Common mistake: asking the Charity Commission for permission to change the name (England and Wales)

Content written for Scotland, where OSCR consent is needed, is read as if it applied everywhere. In England and Wales a name is not a regulated alteration. You tell the Commission afterwards, under the Charities Act 2011 s.35(3) duty. You do not ask.

Scotland is the opposite: OSCR’s consent first. The Commission cannot pre-approve, reserve or suggest a name. Its s.42 power only lets it require a change after the event.

Common mistake: a charitable company trading under the new name from the day of the members’ meeting

The resolution feels like the decisive act. In England and Wales, Companies Act 2006 s.81(1) sets the date. A company’s change of name has effect from the date the new certificate of incorporation is issued. That is not the resolution date, and not the filing date. Until then the charity is using a name it does not yet have.

Common mistake: a charitable company filing once with Companies House, not twice

Filing the special resolution looks like the whole job. Companies Act 2006 s.78(1) requires notice of the change. That is on top of sending the resolution under s.30. Each has its own statutory period. Failure is an offence by the company and every officer in default. Amended articles, if any, go in on the same clock.

Common mistake: a CIO assuming it has no Companies House step at all

A CIO is never on the companies register. So this is easy to assume. A CIO files nothing at Companies House. But CIOs sit in the index of company names. So a new main or working name with a sensitive word needs Companies House approval in advance.

Some sensitive words also need a Statement of Non-Objection from another body. Working names are registered particulars, and the Commission must be told of them too.

Worked example

Saltmarsh Trust is a charitable company in England and Wales. It wants to change its main name.

The members pass a special resolution at the majority the Companies Act requires, because the articles give no other means. The trustees file two things at Companies House: the notice of the change and the resolution.

Saltmarsh’s articles recite its name, so they file amended articles as well. Whether the Commission treats that amendment as required was not established. Saltmarsh does it anyway.

Saltmarsh pays the Companies House fee. It keeps using its old name until the new certificate is issued. From the certificate date it uses the new one. It then tells the Commission through its online account. It uploads the resolution and the new certificate.

Its contracts, leases and the legacies it has been left carry on under the new name.

The outcome is a name change that runs from the certificate date. Both registers and the articles show it.