Community organisations that wish to purchase their local buildings can apply for grants of between £100,000 and £500,000 from today.

The government has made £4.75m available over the summer through its Community Assets and Services Grants.

A total of £3.2m has already been committed to 138 early-stage community ventures across England, each looking to buy or manage a building for the community or deliver a local service.

The scheme is being managed by the Department of Communities and Local Government by the Social Investment Business, in partnership with Locality and Acevo.

London pub the Ivy House was the first in the country to be listed as an asset of community value using this ‘community right to bid’, when the community used a £450,000 capital grant investment to acquire the freehold of the building.

Four themes for applications

Organisations with plans for community asset ownership will be able to apply for a grant until 30 August. Applications will need to meet at least one of four themes. The first is Community Assets – Under the Hammer, which is to facilitate competitive bidding for land and buildings to make use of the right to bid; another is the Equity Matching Scheme, meaning to match-fund monies solicited direct from communities or via community share issues.

Another theme is Exercise Your Rights, which facilitates the use of two (or more) of the various legal mechanisms in tandem; and the final option is How Green is Your Asset – green refurbishment grants to improve the viability of land or buildings.

Further Information on criteria for funding is available at the Social Investment Business Group website.

Projects 'can transform communities'

Caroline Forster, group investment director of the Social Investment Business Group, described the capital grants as flagship asset projects.

“[They will] not only transform the community they are based in but will have impact far beyond because of their scale and ambition,” she said. “We are delighted to have already backed the £13.9m regeneration of Hastings Pier and the first community owned pub in England. This year we have £4.75m to invest in projects that can transform communities and inspire others.”

Organisations interested in the Community Assets and Services Grant products can contact the Community Rights Advice Service via its website or call 0845 345 4564 to assess their suitability for the Fund.

The Community Assets and Services Grants programme is part of the Community Rights Support programme. This is designed to directly support bodies within Section 81 of the Localism Act to bid for and run relevant authority services.

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