The total income from legacies in the 12 months ending June 2016 was up by 10.2 per cent, according to the latest overview from Legacy Foresight.

The 78 members of the Legacy Monitor Consortium received legacy income of £1.4bn in that period, and 52,000 legacy notifications – up by 5.5 per cent on the same period last year.

Legacy Foresight’s third quarterly review of 2016 said that growth rates have improved significantly since its last bulletin, which it says is helped by a “resilient pre-referendum property market (with UK house prices up by 7.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2016) and climbing share prices”.

It also states that a “sharp increase in deaths in winter 2014/15 is also driving a rise in legacy incomes this year”, as the residual bequests notified last autumn pay out.

The average residual legacy value - when someone leaves the remainder of their estate to charity - currently stand at £60,000. The average cash gift in a legacy has reached a record £4,000.

Brexit likely to 'dampen income growth'

Legacy Foresight said that these results do not yet cover any impact of Brexit, but expected it would have a negative effect on income growth.
It said: “Clearly the data in this report does not cover the fallout from Brexit, and we may see very different patterns emerging over the coming issues! The prevailing economic uncertainty is likely to dampen income growth over the next few years.”

It said that latest forecasts suggest that legacy market growth rates will average 2.6 per cent per annum over the next five years. This time last year Legacy Foresight was predicting 4 per annum.

• Our next Fundraising First Thing breakfast seminar on 30 September will explore the impact of Brexit on legacy fundraisng income. Click here to book your place.