Community Rights

Most land can be an asset if its main use is (or recently was) for the wellbeing or social good of the local community. The Localism Act 2011 states that these kinds of uses would include cultural, recreational and sporting activities. It must also be reasonable to think that the land could give similar use in the near future (five years).

Not all land can be listed. Homes, hotels, and land belonging to Church of England or some official organisations (like the railway or National Grid) are not eligible. Not all changes of owners are covered either - land passing between family members, related companies or for settling bankruptcy/debts, is not eligible

Normally, assets are things like village shops, village halls, pubs, parks and green spaces, or sports buildings. These could be owned by us, or by a private company or an individual.

Check whether land is owned by the Council

If you are not sure whether land is owned by us or not, you can use our interactive mapping service to check.

Asking for land (or a building) to be added to the list is called making a nomination. Nominations must be made by community groups.

There are a few types of groups which can nominate land - parish councils, charities, not-for-profit companies and informal community groups (of at least 21 local people).

Individuals cannot make a nomination on their own.

Nominations can be made online.

You can nominate an asset of community value via our online form:

Make an asset of community value nomination

Your nomination must include the following information:

• a description of the land or building being nominated, including its boundaries
• as much information that the community group holds about the names of current occupants of the land and the names and current or last-known addresses of all those holding a freehold or leasehold interest in the land
• the community group's reasons for thinking that the land or building is of community value and any evidence they have to show this.
• evidence that the community group meets the criteria for making a nomination (see 'who can submit nominations' above)

What happens afterward

Once a nomination has been made, we will first tell the people who own the land, and anyone living there. We then have eight weeks to decide whether the land meets the requirements.

If it does, the land will be added to the assets of community value list for five years.

If it doesn’t, it will be added to the unsuccessful nominations list.

When the decision has been made, we will tell the community group, the owner, and anyone living there.

• Assets that have been successfully listed
• Assets that were not successful in being listed
• Assets of community value that have now expired, or been removed

Owners can ask for the decision to be looked at again if they think that the decision was wrong or that the Council did not handle the nomination properly. Someone senior (who wasn’t involved the first time) will listen to the owner’s reasons and look at the decision again.

They might decide to keep the land on the list or they might decide that it should be removed. They have eight weeks after the owner asks to make the new decision. They will give the owner all the reasons for the new decision in writing.

If the owner disagrees with the new decision, they can ask a court to look at it. This is called a 1^st Tier Tribunal. The owner has four weeks from the review decision to ask the court.

Community groups can offer to buy a building or land at any time. However, if an owner wants to sell land that is on the list, they must give community groups time to make an offer.

Firstly, the owner must tell the Council that they are going to try to sell the land. There are then six weeks in which any local community group can decide if it will try to buy the land (bid). This time is called the ‘interim-moratorium’.

If a community group does ask to bid, there is a delay of the rest of six months. This is called the ‘full-moratorium’. In this time, the owner can only sell to a community group. After this ends the owner has 12 months to finish selling.

If no community group asks to bid, the owner can get on with selling their land. They have the rest of the 18 months to finish selling.

Does the owner have to sell to a community group?

No. The owner can sell to whoever they want and at whatever price they choose. The ‘Community Right to Bid’ just gives some extra time for community groups to raise money - this is so they have a fair chance alongside buyers already in the market.

The My Community Rights website has advice on all the Community Rights, information on funding and other help.

These are our guides for owners and community groups:

• The Community Right to Bid, Assets of Community Value: Guidance Notes for Nominators
• The Community Right to Bid, Assets of Community Value: Guidance Notes for Owners

These are the laws and regulations for the Community Right to Bid:

• The Localism Act 2011 - Assets of Community Value (Part 5, Chapter 3)
• Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012

The government have also published guidance for local authorities. It answers many detailed questions about how the law works - and the times when it doesn’t apply:

• Non-Statutory Advice Note for Local Authorities

The Community Right to Challenge aims to provide communities with an opportunity to help better shape local public services. Community members may have ideas on how to better manage these services, perhaps in terms of:

• ensuring services are cost-effective
• making services more responsive to local needs
• thinking up ways as to how services can offer additional social value

Read statutory guidance on Community Right to Challenge

My Community offers advice on making your community a better place to live.

Expressions of Interest should be submitted by email to the Communities Team.