Big Local Spring Event

Wednesday 21st MayYORK

Community Asset TransferCommunity Right to Bid

Neil BerryLOCALITY

web:www.locality.org.uk

email:info@locality.org.uk

tel:0845 458 8336

What’s coming up1)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

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

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

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

Locality Membership

Locality Memberso 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.

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………………………………

?????????How much do you know about Community Asset Transfer and the Right to Bid?

oA lotoSome of the basicsoVirtually nothingoThey are confusing

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.

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 BidoCommunity Right to Build

oCommunity Right to ChallengeoNeighbourhood Planning

Community Rights

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

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)

‘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/

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

Community asset acquisition – a spectrum of

optionso 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

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 assetso2003 General Disposal Consento2006 Government White Paper – Strong and Prosperous Communitieso2007/2008 The Quirk Review, Community Assets Fund & Advancing Assets for Communitieso2008 Government White Paper – Communities in Controlo2009 Asset Transfer Unit & Communitybuilders Fundo2010 Big Society & Localism Bill – Community Right to Bid o2012 Localism Act and Community Assets and Services Grants

HEART, Headingley, Leeds

Milennium Park, Heeley, Sheffield

Elsie Whiteley Centre, Halifax

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

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.

Generating wealth and circulating it locally

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

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

Pro

fit

Ma

rgin

With Asset

No Asset

People develop strong links to ‘their’ buildings…

The risk of doing nothing

Often, surplus assets exist in areas of market failure andvoids can have a significant negative impact on communities.

Community Asset Transfer –

Seize the day!

(Carpe diem)

Caveat emptor

(Buyer beware!)

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 assets…

????????????

Are all of the local assets of importance in your community listed or mapped?

oYes

oNo

oI’ve no idea

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

Big Local Spring Event

Wednesday 21st MayYORK

Asset Mapping in Your Area

Case Study

Coin Street Community BuildersCoin 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.

Case Study

Hudswell Community PubIngredients

Local residentsPassion, resilience, belief, and patience…and investment

FinanceCommunity Shares (residents)Grants (RDA, Locality, others)Loan/Equity (Key Fund)

AdviceCo-ops UK (community shares)Locality & others (business planning)

Case Study

Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust Ingredients

Engagement RulesBuild membership, mobilise networks, listen actively and openly, take risks

Local residentsPassion, politics, campaigns, resilience, belief, patience……and investment

Community Share issue

Part 2. The Right to Bid – the detail

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 mappingwww.mycommunityrights.org.uk

www.theplacestation.org.uk

STEP 6: Asset is brought into community control

...

The process…step by step…

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!

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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!

Some minor exclusions to listing

But the main one is residential housing.

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.

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/

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’.

Moratorium periods

6 months in total

18 month ‘protected period’ where owner can sell again without delay

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.

• 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

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!

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.

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!

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

Part 4. Help and support

The website

http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/

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

• 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