One part of my role as a member of the Sport Sector Group at Brabners sees me assist a number of small, often unincorporated, sports clubs with property-related issues.
This can relate to various matters, such as how their properties are owned or occupied, who is responsible for the repair of their properties when they are occupied on a leasehold basis, how the club can maximise their opportunity to obtain grant-funding by structuring the ownership of their property, assessing long term development opportunities and more. This is a matter which is close to my heart, as a long-time amateur cricketer and general follower of all sports.
Cricket is our national summer sport, and I have devoted countless hours to being a not-very-successful player. A sport which is characterised as much by failure as it is by success, it is a labour of love for those of us who have given up long Saturdays playing, week nights practising, and other nights organising fundraising efforts to keep our clubs going. I have spent many seasons doing all of this, with only one or two notable achievements on the pitch to sustain this obsession. Unfortunately, the demands of life have meant that I can no longer give up this time, but it does not mean that I do not look on with envy when I see my former teammates are still playing and enjoying the sport.
This is why I feel it is important that we continue to sustain and support our sports clubs through what has been a very difficult time.
During the pandemic, clubs could not open. Fields, pitches and courts went unoccupied; still carefully tended to by grounds people, but otherwise unused. Clubs could not raise much needed funds with events and bars being unable to open. Whilst I have been heartened to see clubs open again, and to have attended a couple of fundraising events since the restrictions eased, it is more important than ever that clubs consider how they can best utilise their assets to access grant funding from sporting bodies.
Sport governing bodies and grant funding
Most sport governing bodies will want to know that, when handing grant funding to clubs, it is going to be a worthy investment or will provide a return. Outside of the usual “holistic” sporting considerations such as the sustainability of sport in the local community, grassroots participation, upkeep of the facilities, there are also “harder” legal considerations, which governing bodies may take into account when deciding on whether to grant funding, such as:
- The manner in which the property is occupied and whether such use is properly authorised;
- The corporate or legal status of the owners; and
- Whether the relevant ownership of the property is registered at Land Registry.
The manner in which property is occupied
There are two main ways of owning property in the UK – you can be a leasehold owner or a freehold owner, but you can also occupy a property on a licence basis. The most desirable of these three ownership models is clearly to own the property outright on a freehold basis, meaning that you own the property in perpetuity without any commercial liability such as payment of a rent and/or licence fee.
The second best option is to own on a leasehold basis, meaning that you own the right to occupy the property for a specified length of time as permitted by the lease, provided that you pay the rent and comply with the tenant covenants contained in the lease; a leasehold ownership also means that you have the exclusive right to occupy the property to the exclusion of all others – including the landlord.
Finally, the least robust of these is a licenced occupation – where you have the right to occupy in accordance with the licence, but where the landlord is able to rescind this right with relative ease.
The reason this is important is because a sport governing body (acting as a grant funder) is likely to want to see that, where they are giving you grant-funding, this grant funding is going to be used for a long and certain period of time. If, for example, you are applying for grant funding to resurface your tennis courts, but you only have a right to occupy those courts for another two years, a governing body will likely be reluctant to give this funding when they could give the same funding to a club which owns their property outright. Unfortunately, this is because sport governing bodies have limited amounts that can be given, and therefore they must make sure that the amounts given will be used by the maximum number of participants for the maximum length of time. Having a robust legal interest in the relevant facility for the funding beneficiary is therefore a significant factor.
A lot of clubs occupy land on a licence or short leasehold basis, and mostly the land is owned either by the Local Authority or a local Parish Council, or similar. If you have any concerns that the nature of your occupation may potentially undermine your ability to access such grant funding, then such bodies are likely to have had similar conversations before. Do not be afraid to test the water with them – it is arguable that it is to their benefit that they have a strong, robust, and well maintained club on their hands.
Status of the owners
This depends on the nature of your occupation – if you occupy on a licenced basis then this is not likely to be a major concern. However, if you occupy by way of a lease or if you own the freehold title, then it is important to ascertain just exactly how that is owned, and whether you are taking advantage of all the ownership models available to you. Most clubs are run by trustees or committees, and they may wish to speak to our Charity Team about whether there is a charitable model which is more suitable to them.
From a property perspective, it is important to work out how the land is owned, because a lease which is more than 7 years in duration must be registered at Land Registry, and a sporting body is likely to want to see that you have guaranteed occupation rights for more than 7 years as a minimum. Further, where a freehold property is held by the trustees of the club and those trustees change, the change will require registration at Land Registry. It is a requirement that any type of body seeking to hold legal title to land is a legal entity – be that a person, a body corporate or a trust.
Registered at HM Land Registry
A lot of community clubs were established many years ago, prior to the compulsory registration of legal title at Land Registry. This means that there may be deeds which prove that the club is entitled to occupy the land, but often these deeds have been lost or the record of ownership has not been maintained because deed have been lost or trustees have retired or died, or because of other uncontrollable events. Having the title to your land registered at Land Registry means that, whilst you may no longer be able to lay your hands on the deeds, you have registered title which supports your ownership, is legally guaranteed and which can be provided to any sporting body when seeking grant funding. This is another reason why it is important that the status of the ownership of the land is properly maintained, as mentioned above.
If any of this strikes a chord with you, then please get in touch with our Sports Law team, as we would be delighted to help you improve your prospects of accessing grant funding, improve your facilities and give more youngsters (as I once was) access to sporting facilities in and around the country, and the great benefits that come with sporting participation.
For my part, I believe that cricket gave me a great awareness of the patience required in life – knowing when to play aggressively and when to defend, relying on your technique in some instances and then on grit and determination in others. There have been many lessons learnt on many long, hot summer days; in short and sometime long stays at the crease when batting; or when watching my bowling disappear into the distance after a batter has quite rightly realised that it was not worth their time. These lessons I now apply to my life, and I hope that in the future my children will get the same education. I am sure that many people would point to football, tennis, rugby (league and union), golf and other sports as having taught them similar lessons of patience, grit, determination and, ultimately, when to enjoy the moment. Hopefully by helping clubs obtain greater access to the funding which is vital to their sustainability, we can play a small part in giving these future generations the same opportunities.
