CIC36 Form Guide: How to Write Your Community Interest Statement

You don't need legal expertise or perfect wording. You need to explain clearly what you are going to do and who will benefit. If you can describe your project to a friend, you can write a CIC36.

For the complete picture of setting up a CIC, see our main guide: How to Set Up a CIC: Complete UK Guide 2026.

The CIC36, officially the “Application to form a community interest company”, carries your community interest statement: the declaration of how your company will benefit the community. It is required for every new CIC registration.

This is what makes a CIC different from an ordinary company. Without the CIC36, you are registering a standard limited company.

Key facts about the CIC36

• Purpose: declares your community benefit and activities.
• Required for: all new CIC registrations.
• Who reviews it: the CIC Regulator, not Companies House.
• Where to get it: download from gov.uk, or have CIC Tools write it from your answers.

How the process works

When you submit your CIC registration to Companies House, they pass the CIC36 to the CIC Regulator for review. The Regulator checks that your stated purpose genuinely benefits the community, not just private individuals. Once approved, your CIC is registered and you receive your certificate of incorporation.

The Regulator reviews every CIC36 against the community interest test: whether a reasonable person might consider that your activities are carried on for the benefit of the community. Understanding what they look for makes the writing much easier.

They want to see

1. Clear community benefit. Who specifically will benefit, how, and why this is for the public good rather than private gain.
2. Activities that match the purpose. What your CIC will actually do, how those activities deliver the benefit, and that they are realistic and specific.
3. Reasonable scope. Not so narrow it benefits one person; not so broad it is meaningless. A defined community, by place, group or shared characteristic.

They are not looking for

• Perfect legal language. Plain English is fine.
• A business plan or financial projections. The CIC36 is not about money.
• Proof you can deliver. They are not assessing your capacity.
• Novel ideas. Many CICs do similar things, and that is fine.

The form has a company details block and four lettered sections. Here is what goes in each.

Company details

• Company name, exactly as it appears on your application and articles, ending in “CIC” or “Community Interest Company”.
• Company number: leave blank for a new registration. Companies House assigns it.

Section A: the community

A declaration that the company will carry on its activities for the benefit of the community, and a short description of that community. Define it by place, group or shared characteristic:

• Geographic area: “residents of Greater Manchester” or “people living in the BS5 postcode area”.
• Demographic group: “young people aged 11 to 18” or “adults over 65 living alone”.
• Shared characteristic: “people experiencing homelessness” or “amateur musicians in the local area”.
• A combination: “low-income families with children under 5 in Bristol”.

The community must be wider than your own members or a private group.

Section B: activities, benefit and surplus

A two-column table: your day-to-day activities on the left, and how each one benefits the community on the right. Be specific about services, programmes, events and how often they run, then connect each to a tangible outcome.

“We run cooking classes” becomes “we run weekly cooking classes that help people on low incomes cook healthy meals, reduce food waste and save money”.

Section B also asks how any surplus will be used. If it may be donated to a charity or asset-locked body you have not named in your articles, the form requires the words “with the consent of the CIC Regulator”, otherwise the application is rejected. See what the Regulator accepts for the wording.

Section C: the political declaration

A declaration that the company will not be a political party, a political campaigning organisation, or a subsidiary of either.

Section D: signatures

Every proposed director signs. The form itself warns that an incomplete Section D means rejection, and the number of signatures must match the number of directors on the application.

Four illustrations of effective community interest statements, written to show the level of detail. Adapt the wording to reflect your own activities and community.

1. Being too vague

The Regulator needs specifics. What will you actually do?

2. Describing private benefit

The benefit must be to a wider community, not just a private group.

3. Being too narrow

The beneficiary community must be wider than specific individuals.

4. Copying someone else's statement

Even if you are doing similar work, use your own words. Your statement goes on the public register under your company's name.

5. Including financial projections

The CIC36 is not a business plan. Leave out revenue targets, budgets and forecasts. Focus on community benefit.

6. Using jargon

Clear, simple language is more convincing than corporate jargon.

7. Forgetting who benefits

Always be explicit about who benefits, not just what you will do. “We run workshops” is not enough: who are they for, and why does that matter?

1. You submit your application to Companies House. Online, that means uploading your signed CIC36 and your Articles of Association and entering the company details in the form. On paper, you also send form IN01 and a memorandum.
2. Companies House passes the CIC36 to the CIC Regulator.
3. The Regulator reviews your community interest statement.
4. One of three outcomes: approved and registered (the usual outcome); a query asking for clarification; or rejection, either for missing statutory content (fee refunded, reapply) or, more rarely, because the purpose does not meet the community interest test.

If the Regulator has questions

It does not mean you have done anything wrong. The Regulator will explain what is unclear and give you time to respond with clarification. Most queries are resolved with a simple explanation. See realistic timelines for the full picture.

Writing a CIC36 from scratch means downloading the PDF, working out what to put in each section and hoping the wording is what the Regulator wants. CIC Tools asks plain-English questions instead (what will you do, who will benefit, where will you operate) and writes the CIC36 from your answers in the required structure, along with your Articles of Association. You review, download, sign and upload.

• Free to start, no account needed. £29 only when you download.
• Six policy generators included, so you are ready for funders from day one.
• You submit to Companies House yourself and pay their £115 fee.

Strip away the official form and legal-sounding name, and the CIC36 is three questions: what will you do, who will benefit, and why does it matter? Be specific, be clear, and be honest about your intentions.