On 1 April 1948 the Church Commissioners inherited the assets and functions of their predecessors, Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by virtue of section 2 of the Church Commissioners Measure 1947. Any assets acquired subsequently were vested in the Commissioners by the appropriate legal deed or document.
The Commissioners exercise control over their assets through the Assets Committee which, under section 6 of the 1947 measure and subject to any general rules made by the Board of Governors, has exclusive power and duty to act on behalf of and in the name of the Commissioners in all matters relating to the management of those assets of the Commissioners the income of which is carried into their general fund, including the power to sell, purchase, exchange and let land and make, realise and change investments.