Over £16m funding made available for assets of community value

The funding will be used to support local community groups who want to buy assets and transfer them into public ownership. The grants would be made available to allow communities to invoke the Community Asset Transfer and Community Right to Bid regulations.

The Social Investment Business (SIB) is now inviting applications for grants under The Community Ownership and Management of Assets (including Right to Bid) Grant Programme. SIB manages the programme on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Grants will be awarded to groups that are preparing to implement a Community Right to Bid, the regulations of which are due to come into force in the autumn. The Community Right to Bid would allow organisations to bid to buy publicly or privately-owned land and buildings for community use.

Under the programme communities would be able to get support to acquire and manage assets such as village shops, pubs, community centres, heritage buildings, allotments and libraries, said SIB.

"The Community Right to Bid would give local people the chance to bid to buy a ‘listed asset of community value’ if it comes onto the market for sale, by providing them with up to 6 months to prepare a bid and compete to buy it," said SIB. "The Grant Programme also supports Community Asset Transfer, which already empowers local authorities to transfer the ownership of land and buildings to communities for less than their market value."

Under the Programme pre-feasibility grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 would be made available to help organisations build the internal capacity needed to take ownership of assets. A further grant of between £10,000 and £100,000 would then be made available to those organisations that can show evidence of plans to take over land or buildings, to help undertake feasibility studies to take on asset ownership and management. 

 “The Grant Programme will afford communities across the country access to the expert advice and support they need in order to acquire, safeguard and improve the land and buildings they value the most. In particular, it will help translate ambitious local plans for the development of land and buildings by and for communities into reality,” said Annemarie Naylor, head of assets at community regeneration network Locality.

The Community Right to Bid is expected to become law in autumn 2012. This Right aims to keep valued land and buildings in community use by giving local people the chance to bid to buy them, if and when they come onto the market.

Under the proposals, communities would have the opportunity to nominate public and private land and buildings to be part of a register of ‘assets of community value’. If something on this register is offered for sale, the Right is triggered. Community groups will then have up to six months to prepare a bid and compete to buy it.