Measures to strengthen a community’s right to buy a local asset or business have been included in the government’s English Devolution Bill, set out in the Commons earlier this month.
The government says the bill will include provisions “giving more power to local communities to purchase assets of community value and making reforms to commercial leases”.
This comes alongside a major shake-up of local government, with the creation of new strategic authorities covering each area of England; these will include combined authorities and combined county authorities, which will be given expanded powers.
Ministers also promise “changes to local authority governance, reforming accountability and introducing effective neighbourhood governance structures to amplify local voices”.
In terms of right to buy, the government says it will be easier for local ownership groups to take control of assets such as pubs, shops and social hubs.
Under the current system, an owner can sell a registered asset of community value to any party of their choice at the end of the six-month grace period.
Related: One year in, how well is Labour serving the co-op movement?
“As a result,” says the government, “the current system has often failed to protect our valued community spaces, such as pubs, shops and community centres. The government wants to give communities stronger powers to purchase the assets that are important to them.”
The new community right to buy which will give community groups the first opportunity to purchase an asset of community value.
“The community group and asset owner will either negotiate a price for the asset, or an independent valuer will set a price based on the market value,” the government adds. “The moratorium on the sale of the asset will be extended to 12 months, giving community groups more time to raise funding to meet the agreed purchase price. Asset owners will be able to ask the local authority to check that community groups are making sufficient progress on the sale six months into the moratorium.”
The bill will expand the definition of community value to include a wider range of assets, including those that support the economy of a community and those that were historically of importance to the community.
Community groups will be able to appeal the local authority’s decision on whether an asset is of community value and local authorities will be supported to deliver the powers with new guidance.
And a new separate category will be created for sporting assets of community value, to protect sports grounds which have found limited protection under the existing system, leaving them vulnerable to developers.
Co-op organisations including Co-operatives UK, the Co-op Party and Plunkett UK have long been campaigning for a beefed-up right to buy.
Plunkett, a charity which helps rural community groups take ownership and run businesses as co-operative share owners, welcomed the news, with CEO James Alcock saying the bill “has the potential to save many businesses in rural areas which would otherwise be closed or turned into accommodation”.
He added: “Britain’s pubs for example are facing an economic crisis, and it is the community-ownership model which can save many of them. We believe this is a promising first step for community empowerment. We will look closely at the detail and the processes that will be proposed as the legislation develops, but believe that this progress needs to go hand-in-hand with grant support funding. We welcome feedback on this from Plunkett UK members.”
Locality, a national network for community organisations, also welcomed the bill as an “important step forward” but, like Plunkett, called ministers to back the policy with funding support.
Richard Bell, director of the We’re Right Here campaign for community power, said: “A legal Right to Buy gives communities the power to take control of the places they love – community centres, sports grounds, pubs, parks – and make them work for local people. This will ensure vital, much-loved local spaces are not lost to private hands.
“The new requirement for neighbourhood-level governance could be critical to giving people a real say over the issues affecting their places. But this must not just create a new layer of bureaucracy – it must place local people alongside council representatives as equal partners in decision-making.
“Together, these changes will help some local people band together and improve their places. But to truly unlock the potential in our communities, the government must be bolder — giving local people more control over local resources and a real voice in the decisions that shape their places.”
Tony Armstrong, CEO of Locality, added: “The inclusion of the Right to Buy for communities in the English Devolution Bill deserves to be celebrated. This is a significant step forward for community power – something we’ve been campaigning on for many years.
“However, communities need resources to make the most of their rights. In recent years, the Community Ownership Fund has been vital in helping to save hundreds of community hubs, pubs, and clubs. With the fund now ended, there is no dedicated support available from government for communities looking to take on valued assets.
“For every neighbourhood to be able to reap the rewards of the Right to Buy – especially in more disadvantaged areas – it must be backed with proper resources.”
