Shelter

Registered charity 263710 · since 1972shelter.org.uk·England, Scotland·Updated 31 October 2026

Key takeaways

Shelter's stated purposes cover homelessness, bad housing and relieving hardship, so work in those areas is a clear fit.
Its annual report and register entry give no grant amounts or grant range, so the size of a request is not something the sources show, and a modest, carefully costed enquiry is the safest starting point.
No application process is published, so the contact shown on its website is the place to start.
The exclusion in the sources covers only free government funded training for organisations outside England, not grants, so an organisation outside England should not rule out a grant enquiry on that basis.
Timing and how competitive its giving is are not stated.

Overview

Shelter is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 263710).

Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home. It provides advice, support and legal services to people in bad housing or homelessness, campaigns for housing justice and carries out research into housing problems. Its training includes free courses for eligible organisations in England and discounted paid courses for some organisations, and its registered area covers England and Scotland.

What they fund

Priority Areas

Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home. It provides advice, support and legal services to people struggling with bad housing or homelessness, campaigns for housing justice, and undertakes research into housing problems. Its charitable purposes include relieving hardship and distress among homeless people and people living in adverse housing conditions, relieving poverty and distress, and educating the public about homelessness and related hardship. Shelter also makes funds available to other bodies whose charitable aims are to relieve hardship and distress. Its report describes grants, training and expertise going to community organisations to strengthen and stabilise resources for the communities they serve.

What they don't fund

Free government funded training only: organisations based outside of England

How to apply

No application process is published in the charity's annual report, its register entry or its website. The contact shown is for getting in touch.

Who can apply:

Free government funded training: You are eligible for free training if you work for an organisation in England that provides: housing or homelessness advice; debt and welfare benefits advice to improve someone's housing situation. This includes: Citizens Advice; local authorities; voluntary organisations; public authorities, such as prisons, probation, job centres or health services.
Discounts for paid courses: The discounted rate is available to advice agencies and charities.

Where they fund

Registered area of operation (Charity Commission)

Similar funders

Funders supporting work similar to Shelter.

Jill and Norman Franklin TrustRollingGave £367k Church Homeless CharityInvitation onlyGave £293k Homeless LinkRollingGave £361k The TDS Charitable FoundationNo public processGave £794k CrisisNo public processGave £325k The Jecda FoundationInvitation onlyGave £96,000 Peter Samuel Charitable TrustNo public processGave £236k Housing JusticeNo public processGave £204k The Chillag Family Charitable TrustInvitation onlyGave £136k The Housing Studies Charitable TrustNo public process

Five years of accounts

Financial year	Income	Expenditure	Grants paid	Accounts document
year to 31 March 2021	£72,883,000	£71,571,000	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2021
year to 31 March 2022	£75,197,000	£73,525,000	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2022
year to 31 March 2023	£73,665,000	£82,770,000	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2023
year to 31 March 2024	£81,331,000	£82,654,000	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2024
year to 31 March 2025	£76,960,000	£79,906,000	—	Accounts for year to 31 March 2025

— No grants figure for those years.

Figures from the charity’s filed accounts and its register entry. The document icon links to the charity’s entry on the Charity Commission register, where its filed accounts can be found.