The Community Right to Bid allows communities and parish councils to nominate buildings or land for listing by the Council as an asset of community value (ACV).
What can be nominated as an Asset of Community Value?
An asset can be listed if its principal use furthers (or has recently furthered) the community’s social well-being or social interests (which include cultural, sporting or recreational interests) and is likely to do so in the future.
What happens to Assets of Community Value
If a building or other asset is successfully listed as an ACV it will be kept on the Council’s list of ACVs for 5 years. If, during that time, a listed asset is put up for sale the owner must notify the Council. A moratorium on the sale (of up to six months) can be invoked by the local community to give them the chance to raise finance, develop a business case and to make a bid to buy the asset on the open market.
What are the limits to listing as an ACV
Inclusion on the list of ACVs does not require a landowner to sell their property to a community group. The purpose of listing is to allow the community to develop a bid for the property.
Being an ACV also does not stop the landowner from changing how the property is used. For example if an asset of community value is leased to a business, such as a restaurant, the landowner is not obliged to continue that lease. However, listing as an ACV can be a material planning consideration.