Aims/priorities: The funding is intended to support community groups in taking ownership of at-risk assets and to provide essential renovations for assets already in community ownership, ensuring long-term sustainability for the benefit of the community.
The Community Ownership Fund's four strategic objectives are:
- To provide targeted investment for communities to save and sustain community assets that would otherwise be lost to community use.
- To strengthen capacity and capability in communities, supporting them to shape their places and develop sustainable community businesses.
- To empower communities in left behind places to level up.
- To strengthen direct links between places across the UK and the UK Government.
Who can apply? Applications will be accepted from voluntary and community organisations from all parts of the United Kingdom who have a viable plan for taking ownership of a community asset at risk and running it sustainably for community benefit.
To be eligible, the applicant must be an incorporated organisation which is set up to deliver charitable purpose, social purpose or public benefit. Eligible organisation types include:
- Charitable incorporated organisation (CIO).
- Scottish charitable incorporated organisation (SCIO).
- Co-operatives including Community Benefit Societies.
- Community Interest Company (CIC).
- Not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
- Parish, town or community council.
To be eligible for investment from the Fund, the terms of community ownership must be either the ownership of the freehold or a long-term leasehold of at least 15 years with reasonable break clauses.
Assets with leaseholds of 25 years and no early break clauses are preferred as applicants will find it easier to demonstrate the long-term sustainability of the asset in community hands.
Proposals will need to prove the value of the asset to local people and that the asset can run sustainably for the long-term benefit of the community. Projects could include (but are not limited to):
- Community centres.
- Cinemas and theatres.
- Galleries.
- Museums.
- Music venues.
- Parks.
- Post office buildings.
- Pubs.
- Shops.
- Sporting and leisure facilities.
To be eligible for funding, applicants must demonstrate that the community asset they want to save fulfils the following criteria:
There is a risk of loss without community intervention
- Risk might be from closure, sale, neglect and dereliction under current ownership, or unsustainable operations under the current business model.
- Applicants need to demonstrate the nature of the risk facing the asset. This will include evidence that without community intervention the asset or amenity would be lost to the community.
Can be run viably and sustainably
- Applications should demonstrate how the asset will be protected for the long-term benefit of the community. Organisations must show this through their charitable purpose and/or an asset lock within their governing documents.
- Applicants should demonstrate how they are accountable to the community they represent, how they will operate for the benefit of the wider community in the place where the asset is located, and how they will use the asset to deliver community impact.
- Profits from the community asset and businesses should be reinvested in the asset to deliver community benefit.
Requires essential renovations to be sustainable for the long-term benefit of the community
- Organisations who already own their asset are eligible to apply for funding to renovate their asset, provided the asset would otherwise be at risk of closure or loss to the community without these renovations.
Applicants who have been unsuccessful are encouraged to apply again in a future round.
Grant amount: The Community Ownership Fund has a total value of £150 million over a four year period to March 2025.
The Fund will contribute up to 80% of the total capital required.
Applicants can apply for a blend of capital and revenue funding:
- Capital funding to take ownership (including the acquisition of the building; refurbishment costs alongside a sale or a transfer). Up to £250,000 match-funded capital will be available for all eligible asset types.
From Round 3 Window 2 onwards, up to £2 million in capital funding is available to new applicants.
- Revenue funding to support the running costs of the project, ie for legal fees, general costs including utilities, staffing costs, or costs associated with professional services or other specialist support. This does not need to be matched.
- Revenue funding request cannot be more than 20% of the capital funding request or £50,000, whichever is smaller. This is also applied to all assets applying for up to £2 million capital funding.
In exceptional cases where a project has been assessed as at most need, the Fund may contribute an additional 10% of capital funding. In these circumstances the Fund may contribute up to 90% of total capital required and applicants are required to raise the remaining 10% from other sources of funding.
Application process: An updated prospectus and new Expression of Interest form for Round 4, the final round of the Fund, has been published.
All prospective applicants, including those that have previously submitted a successful Expression of Interest (EOI) form, must submit a new EOI on the updated system if they have an interest in applying in the final round of the fund. Only applicants who submitted an EOI in the new system will be informed when a bidding window is about to open and will receive the link needed to apply to the fund.
Guidance documents and application forms are available from the GOV.UK website.
In addition, My Community, the official delivery partners for the Community Ownership Fund support programme, has published a number of different guides on their website which new applicants may wish to refer to.
These include:
- What is the Community Ownership Fund?
- Frequently asked questions
- Editable version of the Community Ownership application form
- How to write a strong Community Ownership Fund application.
- Community Ownership Fund Advice and Support
- Community Ownership Fund stories
Deadline: The Fund will run until March 2025 with regular bidding windows throughout the year for applicants to submit a full application.
Contact information: Email: info@mycommunity.org.uk
Website: Community Ownership Fund round 4: prospectus - GOV.UK