£16.7m grant fund supporting asset transfer opens1

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 31 Jul 2012

A £16.7m grant fund supporting community groups to buy publicly-owned assets has opened.

The Community Ownership and Management of Assets (including Right to Bid) Grant Programme is being managed by the Social Investment Business on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The Fund is looking to invest £16.7m in community groups in England to empower them to use Community Asset Transfer and the Community Right to Bid and help safeguard local assets for community benefit.

Communities will be able to get support to acquire and manage assets such as village shops, pubs, community centres, heritage buildings, allotments and libraries.

Pre-feasibility grants between £5,000 and £10,000 are on offer to help organisations build the internal capacity needed to take ownership of assets. Organisations that can show evidence of plans to take over land or buildings can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to help undertake feasibility studies to take on asset ownership and management.

The Community Right to Bid will give local people the chance to bid to buy a ‘listed asset of community value’ if it comes onto the market for sale, by providing them with up to 6 months to prepare a bid and compete to buy it. The Grant Programme also supports Community Asset Transfer, which already empowers local authorities to transfer the ownership of land and buildings to communities for less than their market value.

Interested organisations are advised to contact the Community Rights Advice Service to assess their suitability for the Fund. Information on criteria for funding is available on the Social Investment Business website.

Directory: The Social Investment Business

Place a comment

H. EVANS (Mrs)
Director
Unpaid Community worker
5 Aug 2012

I take the opportunity to comment on this as from my experience I am very familiar with the article above.

As "unpaid" voluntary worker in my community for many decades, I went back to my University "LSBU" to get an update on how to serve better our people in need but, as I was not from the PAID Voluntary and Community Sector and other reasons, this time I could not get so far by attempting to do this "Civil Society" course at the University,

Neither, have I recently achieved much in my "unpaid" voluntary work, ever since my last' year University Studies.
As an acitive member in various groups of my community I encouraged members of the Community particular of my housing estate to take part in The 2011 LOCALISM ACT Consultation, at national level, in the Housing Landlord Policy decision making however now it is very difficult to influence in the Rights of the People who lives in our communities Housing estates.

Under the Localism Act the extra powers were transfered from Central Government to:1st LA's (Council) 2nd Cllrs and 3rd to communities.

The Cllrs that is the Council have the power to do and pass on the Rights to Challenge Grant Programme and / or Right to Bid Grant Programme for our housing estates through the PAID Voluntary and Community Sector staff, to however they want, they now got the POWER we, residents of the communities / housing estates used to have on an unpaid basis.
.
Many thanks for considering these comments.

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