Slides used by Catherine Perry and Neil Berry, Locality at the Big Local spring events. Catherine spoke at the event in Birmingham (on Thursday 8 May 2014)and Neil at the event in York (on Wednesday 21 May 2014), both organised as part of the Local Trust programme of networking and learning events for Big Local residents. The event took place. (Slides include Neil's name as he was last person to use them, but the same slides were used by both Catherine and Neil.)

1. Bi g Local Spr i ng
Event
Wednesday 21st
May
YORK

2. Community Asset Transfer
Community Right to Bid
Neil Berry
LOCALITY
web:www.locality.org.uk
email:info@locality.org.uk
tel:0845 458 8336

3. What’s coming up
1) Background – Locality – who we are and what
we do
2) Asset Transfer and the Right to Bid – what
are they, how can YOU use them in YOUR Big
Local Area
3) Asset Mapping – what are the assets in your
area?
4) Help and support –case studies, tools, grants

4. Locality is the leading nationwide network of settlements,
development trusts, social action centres and community
enterprises.
Locality
Our vision is to make every community a
place of possibility – through social action,
community enterprise and community
asset ownership

5. Locality was formed through the merger of bassac and the
Development Trusts Association, two leading networks of
community owned and led organisations.

6. o 423 trusts in England (over 700 across UK)
o Members have a combined income of £325m
o Of which £172m is earned income
o £660 million community owned assets
o 5,500 staff
o 20,000 volunteers
Locality Membership

7. Locality Members
o Community led – by the people, for the people.
o Social change – to make communities fairer and more
inclusive.
o Community enterprise – earning income for community
benefit, not for private profit and aiming for long-term
sustainability.
o Developing assets – maximising community assets:
people, land and buildings
o Independent – working in partnership but accountable
to the local community and free to determine their own
objectives.

8. What they do!!!
Provide childcare, make benches, manage office space, cook healthy food, run community
cafés, recycle paper, support people with special needs, grow stuff, manage community
centres, run cinemas, build and rent out houses, youth work, provide home help schemes,
transport schemes, lobby Council’s fori mprovements, consultancy work, run schools for
excluded young people, have festivals & fun days & Dickensian Christmas Fayres,
neighbourhood management and other local initiatives, run social enterprises, support people
to find work, manage football pitches, manage Healthy Living Centres, run community
conference facilities, create web-sites, provide a refuge for women, repairing and selling
bicycles, DJ Workshops, refurbish derelict buildings, run credit unions, manage parks and
play areas, teaching basic skills English and Math, lend money, employ local people, running
play schemes, manage sports facilities, publish community newsletters, teach construction
and catering skills, support community radio, run community arts projects, manage
renewable energy schemes, build green homes, manage grant funding, managing local
markets (market stalls), run community cohesion projects, manage street ranger schemes,
advice and debt counselling, promote tourism, manage heritage sites, manage shops, run
pubs and bars, manage allotments, run Tourist Information Centres, run Abattoirs, provide
ferry services, book publishing, fish hatchery, holiday homes, golf courses, boat slipway,
goose and deer management, Taxi service, rent a hen………………………………

9. ?????????
How much do you know about Community
Asset Transfer and the Right to Bid?
oA lot
oSome of the basics
oVirtually nothing
oThey are confusing

10. The drivers
Political Community
Community
Right to Bid
&
Asset
Transfer
The political vision: putting more power
and opportunity into peoples’ hands -
Localism Act (2011)
Driver 1. Localism and Decentralisation
Driver 2. Community asset ownership
Communities generating wealth and circulating it locally.
Retaining key local buildings and services.
Increased financial & operational independence.

11. The Community Rights are a set of powers that give you a greater say
over how your community develops. They can help you to save local
shops, pubs, libraries, parks and football grounds.
You can decide what is built and how the area should develop. Groups of
people have the chance to deliver local services and develop them into
community enterprises.
There are four Community Rights
oCommunity Right to Bid
oCommunity Right to Build
oCommunity Right to Challenge
oNeighbourhood Planning
Community Rights

12. o Community Right to Build - Gives communities the power
to build new shops, housing or community facilities without
going through the normal planning process.
o Community Right to Challenge - Gives local groups the
opportunity to express their interest in taking over a local
service where they think they can do it differently and
better.
o Neighbourhood Planning - Gives people the chance to
decide how their local area should develop and what should
be built.
New rights and powers for
communities and individuals

13. o Came info force in September 2012.
o Voluntary and community organisations (and parish councils) can
nominate land and buildings to be included in a local ‘list of
assets of community value’.
o The local authority is required to maintain the list. If the owner
of a listed asset decides to sell, they must inform the council and
a moratorium period (a 6 month ‘pause’ in the sale process) will
be triggered during which time the asset cannot be sold.
o This window affords communities precious time to raise the
necessary funds and bid for its purchase.
Community Right to Bid
(Assets of Community Value)

14. ‘I want to save my local pub, library,
community centre, park……’
You can use the Community Right to Bid to ‘pause’
the sale of a building or land you care about, giving
your community time to develop a bid to buy it.
Community Right to Bid
Further Info:
http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/community-right-
to-bid/how-does-it-work/

15. What is Community Asset Transfer?
oThe transfer of the interest/ownership in buildings and/or land (most
often from the public sector)
oTo locally accountable community organisations (i.e. independent,
community reps, often membership, often charities)
oThe type of transfer varies, but communities typically take on the
ownership or management of a community asset on either a freehold, long
lease, shorter lease or a licence to occupy basis (key is security of tenure
and ability to manage it as an asset). Longer leases are required to secure
grants.
oCan be at ‘nil consideration’, less than best consideration or below
market value

16. Community asset acquisition – a
spectrum of options
o Management arrangements.
o Meanwhile.
o Short term lease.
o Long term lease.
o Freehold.
Increasing:
•Autonomy
•Risk
•Impact
•Opportunity
•Capacity
“The greater the stake, the greater the financial and legal responsibility the
organisation takes on, but also the greater the freedom to exploit the asset’s
potential”
Quirk review, (2007), DCLG

17. Community Asset Transfer - A potted history…
oGrowth of the ‘third sector’, particularly ‘community anchors’,
enabling role of Councils, community empowerment,
neighbourhood renewal, devolution and localism etc.
oA history of Councils recognising the power of communities to
optimise the community benefit of public owned assets
o2003 General Disposal Consent
o2006 Government White Paper – Strong and Prosperous
Communities
o2007/2008 The Quirk Review, Community Assets Fund &
Advancing Assets for Communities
o2008 Government White Paper – Communities in Control
o2009 Asset Transfer Unit & Communitybuilders Fund
o2010 Big Society & Localism Bill – Community Right to Bid
o2012 Localism Act and Community Assets and Services Grants

18. HEART, Headingley, Leeds

19. Milennium Park, Heeley, Sheffield

20. Elsie Whiteley Centre, Halifax

21. Right to Bid vs Asset Transfer
Right to Bid Asset Transfer
Basis Statutory National policy
Type of asset Any asset Any council owned asset
Ownership Any owner Public sector
Process Defined in Localism Act Mutual negotiation
Value Market value Undervalue
Terms Freehold or lease of 25+
years
Mutual negotiation

22. The Challenge
Grant funding Assets Enterprise
o Communities generating wealth and circulating it locally.
o Retaining key local buildings and services.
o Increased financial & operational independence.

23. Generating wealth and circulating it
locally

24. The asset effect
% of unrestricted earned income for Locality members with and
without a significant asset
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63
Orgs with Asset
Orgs without asset

25. The other asset effect
-80%
-60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Earned Income
ProfitMargin
With Asset
No Asset

26. People develop strong links to
‘their’ buildings…

27. The risk of doing nothing
Often, surplus assets exist in areas of market failure and
voids can have a significant negative impact on communities.

28. Community Asset Transfer –
Seize the day!
(Carpe diem)

29. Caveat emptor
(Buyer
beware!)

30. Managed workspace, industrial buildings, visitor
centres, marina, sports facilities, training facilities,
shops, cafes, cinemas, housing, green spaces, car
parks, community centres, live/work spaces, health
centres, nurseries, transport, wind farms, arts
centres…and even an abattoir!
Types of asset s …

31. ????????????
Are all of the local assets of importance in your community
listed or mapped?
oYes
oNo
oI’ve no idea

32. The Place Station
http://www.theplacestation.org.uk/

33. Bi g Local Spr i ng Event
Wednesday 21st
May
YORK
Asset Mappi ng i n Your Ar ea

34. Case Study
Coin Street Community Builders
Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) is a social enterprise and
development trust which seeks to make London's South Bank a better place
in which to live, to work and to visit.
CSCB has transformed a largely derelict 13 acre site into a thriving mixed
use neighbourhood by creating new co-operative homes; shops, galleries,
restaurants, cafes and bars; a park and riverside walkway; sports facilities; by
organising festivals and events;
and by providing childcare, family support,
learning, and enterprise support.

35. Case Study
Hudswell Community Pub
Ingredients
Local residents
Passion, resilience, belief, and
patience…and investment
Finance
Community Shares (residents)
Grants (RDA, Locality, others)
Loan/Equity (Key Fund)
Advice
Co-ops UK (community shares)
Locality & others (business planning)

36. Case Study
Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust
Ingredients
Engagement Rules
Build membership, mobilise
networks, listen actively and openly,
take risks
Local residents
Passion, politics, campaigns,
resilience, belief, patience……and
investment
Community Share issue

37. Part 2. The Right to Bid – the detail

38. STEP 2:
Get 21 people together and
nominate the asset
...
STEP 3:
Local Authority
accepts/rejects nomination
...
STEP 4:
If asset sold, up to 6 months
to raise funds to bid to buy
...
STEP 5:
Finance, (Community
Shares?)
www.communityshares.org.uk
...
STEP 1:
Get informed, get organised,
get mapping
www.mycommunityrights.org.uk
www.theplacestation.org.uk
STEP 6:
Asset is brought into
community control
...
The process…step by step…

39. Yes we can!
• Local strengths & opportunities.
• What do we already have?
• What are we capable of?
• Where do we want to go from here?
• What sort of value - intrinsic; a means to an
end, future potential?
• Engagement tools:
http://www.partnerships.org.uk/guide/index.
htm
• MAP WITH A PURPOSE!

40. Take (pre-emptive) action
“They’ve closed our village pub how
do we register it as a community asset
and stop it from falling into the hands
of developers?”
“We want to take over our
town hall and turn it into a
community centre and hub.”

41. The Pub?
The Post Office?
The Village Hall?
The Corner Shop?
The School?
The Allotments?
Your House?
Managing the list
• LAs manage the local list of
‘assets of community value’
(ACV).
• Applies to public & private land.
• Nominated by an eligible body.
• LA has up to 8 weeks to decide.
• LA must give notice to list to
owner, occupier, nominee (and
parish council).
• Right of appeal for landowner.
• If accepted, remains on list for 5
years.

42. What is an Asset of
Community Value?
Its main use currently, or recently, has been
to “further the social well-being or social
interests of the local community” and there is
a likelihood that it could continue to do so.

43. Who can nominate?
• Parish councils.
• Neighbourhood Forums (as defined in
Neighbourhood Planning regs).
• Unconstituted community groups of at least 21
people on electoral roll.
• Not-for-private-profit organisations (e.g.
charities).
• …with a local connection.

44. How do you nominate?
• By application to relevant LA.
• Description of land and boundaries.
• Known owners and occupiers.
• Reasons why it is of community value.
• Evidence of nominator’s eligibility.
Nomination stage is meant to be easy!

45. Some minor exclusions to
listing
But the main one is
residential housing.

46. Open to interpretation?
• ‘Social well-being’ - not defined, but in
practice has been applied very widely.
• ‘Social interests’ - is defined, as: cultural,
recreational or sporting interests.
• ‘Recent past’ – not defined, but propose at
least 5 years.

47. Owner objections
• Internal (LA) review.
• First Tier tribunal.
Chesham Arms Pub, Hackney, judge found that
it is an asset of community value despite
owner’s appeal. http://www.savethechesham.org/

48. The Moratorium (pause)
• Triggered when owner wants to sell.
• Freehold/25+ lease (vacant
possession).
• Owner must inform LA of their
intention to sell.
• LA informs updates the list and
publishes moratorium dates.
• Owner cannot conclude sale, other
than to a ‘community interest group’.

49. Moratorium periods
6 months in total
18 month ‘protected period’ where owner can sell again without delay

50. Who can express an interest
at the moratorium stage?
• Can only be made by a ‘community
interest group.’
• ie: a legally constituted organisation
such as a charity, co. limited by
guarantee (that does not distribute
profits amongst its members), an
Industrial and Provident Society, a
Community Interest Company or a
Parish Council.

51. • Business sold as a going concern.
• Part-listed disposals (where land forms part of larger site, the
remainder of which is not listed).
• Planning obligation, option or pre-emption right made before the
asset was listed.
• Gifts to family members.
• Statutory compulsory purchase.
• Purpose of enabling NHS services to continue to be provided on the
land.
• For purposes of a school, a 16-19 academy or an institution within
the further education sector.
Moratorium exclusions

52. Progress – the big picture
• 1,100 listed (72% success rate).
• Huge breadth and variety of asset types.
• At least 150 pubs listed (half nominated by Parish councils).
• Libraries, green space, sports
facilities, football grounds, shops,
churches, hospitals, town halls,
barracks…and Greenham Common
Control Tower!

53. Do ACV listings affect planning
decisions?
“It is open to the local planning authority to decide whether
listing as an ACV is a material consideration if an application for
change of use is submitted considering all the circumstances of
the case.”
Community Right to Bid: Non-statutory advice note for local authorities, DCLG
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/14880/Community_Right_to_Bid_-_Non-
statutory_advice_note_for_local_authorities.pdf
Brent Council’s recent decision to refuse planning
permission for the redevelopment of Kensal Rise
Library.

54. The Ivy House Pub, Nunhead, London
Borough of Southwark
The Ivy House pub was
possibly the first place in
the country to be listed as
an asset of community
value using the
Community Right to Bid.
And the fight to save this
historic pub has paid off,
with the pub being
brought into community
ownership in March 2013!

55. Step 1:
Have an enterprising idea for
running a local asset or
community project
Step 2:
Make the case and galvanise
community support
...
Step 5:
Develop a share offer document
setting out why your
community should invest
Step 6:
Launch and promote share
offer to attract investors
...
Step 3:
To issue shares: register
community organisation as an
Industrial Provident Society
...
Step 4:
Set your funding target based on
your business case
£700,000
The Bell Inn, Bath: Community Shares
investment

56. Part 4. Help and support

57. The website
http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/

58. Grants
• Pre-feasibility grants - £5k to £10k.
• Feasibility grants - £10k to £100k.
• Eligible whether you use the right or not.
• Revenue only - consortia building, training,
expertise, business planning, market research,
etc.
• Not intended for equipment, building costs or
running costs.
• Capital available from May 1st
2014

59. • Find out more about community asset projects:
www.locality.org.uk/assets
• Take advantage of our Community Asset Mapping Platform:
www.theplacestation.org.uk
• Obtain further information about the Community Rights:
www.mycommunityrights.org.uk Tel: 0845 345 4564
• Follow our pilot work with private sector property professionals:
www.localitybrokers.org.uk/
• Use our Whole Life Costing tool for communities:
www.buildingcalculator.org.uk
Advice and support