Community Right to Bid

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About the Community Right to Bid

The Community Right to Bid (sometimes called Assets of Community Value) was introduced under the Localism Act 2011

Eligible bodies nominate a building or piece of land that provides a service in the community and can make a request to the Council for it to be listed as an ‘asset of community value’.

Register of Assets of Community Value (PDF, 172 KB)

Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011 ("the Act"), and the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012 together deliver the "Community Right to Bid". The scheme means that communities can ask the Council to list certain assets as being of value to the community.

If a landowner wants to sell a property which has been listed as an asset of community value, they must tell the council. If a community group wants to buy the asset, they can trigger a 6 month moratorium to give them a chance to raise funds but the landowner can still sell at the going market rate.

This moratorium period gives community groups some time to develop a proposal and raise the required capital to bid for the property when it comes onto the open market at the end of the moratorium period.

What counts as an ‘Asset of Community Value?

An Asset of Community Value is defined as: A building or other land is an asset of community value if its main use furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community or has done so in the recent past and it is realistic to think that it could do so in the future.

The Act states that ‘social interests’ include cultural, recreational and sporting interests.

Assets may be either privately or publicly owned.

Please note that residential property is excluded and may not be listed unless it forms part of a building and the use of the other part of the building meets the tests for listing as an asset of community value.

Who can nominate an asset?

Assets can be nominated by:

  • an eligible voluntary or community body with a local connection, namely the organisation’s activities are concerned wholly or partly with the authority’s area or the area of a neighbouring authority. The term ‘voluntary or community body’ covers the following:
  • a properly designated Neighbourhood Forum (as defined in section 61F of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990)
  • a Parish Council
  • an unincorporated body of at least 21 local residents (each individual must be registered on the electoral roll for Barnet or a neighbouring authority) and which does not distribute profit to members
  • a charity
  • a company by limited guarantee that does not distribute surplus to members
  • a cooperative or community benefit society (previously known as industrial and provident societies) that does not distribute surplus to its members
  • a community interest company (that satisfies the requirements of Part 2 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004)

If your organisation is an unincorporated body, a company limited by guarantee, or a cooperative or community benefit society, you must be able to prove that any surplus the organisation makes is applied wholly or partly for the benefit of Barnet or a neighbouring authority’s area. 

An asset can be a building or a piece of land. It can either belong to the local authority or to a private owner. A building or piece of land is deemed to have community value if:

  • the use of the land or building currently, or in the recent past, furthers the social well-being or social interests of the local community - “social interests” includes cultural, recreational or sporting interests
  • it is realistic to think that the use of the building or land will continue to further the social well-being or social interests of the local community, or will do so within the next five years where the use has ended
  • the use of the building or land must not be ‘ancillary’, i.e. of secondary purpose. This means that the use of the land or building to further social well-being or social interests of the community must be its principal use

How to nominate an asset

A nomination must come from one of the organisations listed above. The Council is obliged to assess any nomination within 8 weeks of receipt of a valid nomination.

If a nomination is accepted the Council will notify the owner, the occupier, the entity which nominated the property as an asset of community value and other persons as required by the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012. The listing of the property as an asset of community value will be noted at the Land Registry and in the register of local land charges. 

If the nomination is unsuccessful the Council will notify the nominee in writing and provide an explanation as to why the nomination was unsuccessful. The nomination will also be added to the list of ‘land nominated by an unsuccessful community nomination’ that the Council is required to maintain. 

If land is included on the List of Assets of Community Value, it will remain on that list for five years.  After that time, it will be removed from the list. A new nomination may be submitted. 


To nominate an asset, please complete and return the Asset of Community Value form (ODT, 43 KB)

Sale of an Asset of Community Value

Once the property is registered, the owner of that property must notify us of their intention to sell the property (subject to specific exceptions). The register will be updated, and the fact that the owner intends to sell the property will be publicised. 

Any community interest group wishing to make a bid must write to us within 6 weeks of receiving our written notification, confirming its "expression of interest (EOI)" to purchase the property. An "expression of interest" form, together with guidance notes can be downloaded below.

The group will then have a period of 6 months within which to make a bid. If there is more than one community interest group interested in purchasing, we would encourage those groups to work together. The 6 months runs from the date the owner notifies us of their intention to sell the property.

At any point before the end of the 6 months period you may enter negotiations with the owner of the property provided the owner is willing to do this. We would ask you to keep us informed of developments. At the end of the 6 months period, the owner has the option to sell to the community group or to sell it freely on the open market, within 18 months from when the owner notified the Council of their intention to sell.

A community interest group for this purpose means:

In each case their activities are concerned with the authority’s area, where the property is situated or a neighbouring authority’s area and any surplus the organisation makes is applied wholly or partly for the benefit of Barnet or a neighbouring authority’s area.
 

Making an expression of interest

To express interest in being treated as a potential bidder, you must email community.rights@barnet.gov.uk before the deadline for the interim moratorium (i.e., within 6 weeks of the Council being notified of the intention to sell).

We will then need to check your eligibility. Please note that all supporting evidence must be supplied ahead of the deadline, otherwise we cannot assess your eligibility and therefore cannot trigger the full moratorium.

If you are eligible to be treated as a potential bidder, we will write to confirm this and we will pass your contact details to the owner and advise them of your group’s interest. This then triggers the full six-month moratorium, which starting from the date the owner notified the council of their intention to sell.

During this time the owner can only sell to valid community interest groups, although they are not obliged to do so. They can sell the asset on the open market between the end of the six-month moratorium (full moratorium) and the end of the protected period (18 months from the date when the owner advised the council of its intention to sell or let). By expressing an interest, you are requesting to be treated as a potential bidder. 

Please note: once we have passed your details to the owner it is down to the owner to contact you if they are interested in negotiating with you. The council does not play any further role in this process. After the interim moratorium period, the council is not obliged to pass details of community interest groups to the owner.
 

Expressions of interest should be sent to:

Requesting a review of an Asset of Community Value listing

This section sets out the council’s internal procedure for conducting a review of an Asset of Community Value listing requested by the landowner (“the Owner”). The Owner for these purposes means a tenant of a lease for at least 25 years, or if there is none, the owner of the freehold - as covered in the Localism Act 2011. Following any decision made by the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Resources and Effective Council to list an Asset and subsequent notification to the Owner of the outcome, the Owner has eight weeks (from the date written notice is given, of the decision to list) in which to request a review. The Council can agree to extend this period.

The council has a statutory deadline of eight weeks to conduct a review and notify the Owner of the outcome. These eight weeks starts on the date the council receives the request for a review. Requests must be made in writing to community.rights@barnet.gov.uk). The Council may negotiate an extension to this deadline with the Owner, but the Owner is not obliged to agree this extension. Any extensions must be agreed in writing. If the Owner does not agree, then the statutory deadline holds.

The Owner may appoint any representative (whether legally qualified or not) to act on their behalf in respect to the review. If this is the case, all correspondence and documentation can be sent to the representative, it does not need to be duplicated to the Owner. Throughout this document, ‘the Owner’ will be used to refer to the landowner or their representative.

Procedure of a Review Hearing (PDF, 503KB)