This national organisation has closed due to lack of funds. According to the BBC (20 April 2009) the trust said it has been hit particularly hard by "the squeeze on local authority spending in the current climate". The civic trusts in Scotland and Wales and the north of England are continuing as usual.

The Civic Trust was the representative body for more than 700 civic societies, campaigning to protect heritage and to promote the highest standards of architecture, urban design and town planning.

It was perhaps best known for the Civic Trust Awards and for organising Heritage Open Days in England.