Community Right to Bid
The Community Right to Bid aims to provide local communities with the opportunity to recognise and safeguard the loss of any local amenities of great importance to the community.
The council maintains a 'List of Assets of Community Value', which are nominated successfully by local community groups. If any of the listed assets are put up for sale, the council will inform the community and give them time to consider bidding to take over the asset themselves as a community enterprise.
The legislation does not guarantee that the community will be able to buy the asset, it just allows them time to prepare a bid for it on the open market.
For further information contact us at:
- Email: communityrighttobid@herefordshire.gov.uk
- Address: Community Assets Co-ordinator, AMPS, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 4, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0XH
How does the Community Right to Bid work?
Facilities up for nomination must be of community value: the building furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community (or has done in the recent past). Social interest uses can include cultural, recreational and sporting interests. Examples include village pubs, shops, schools, community centres, library buildings.
Assets of community value cannot be:
- Residential properties and associated land
- Land licensed for use as a caravan site
- Operational land used for transport, and other infrastructures
The Assets of Community Value Regulations 2012 provide more detail on assets that will be exempt from listing and who has the power to make this exemption. The Government has also produced a non-statutory advice note which provides additional guidance to councils about this process.
Who can nominate a community asset?
- A local voluntary or community group that is incorporated - this means it has a separate legal status from its members
- A local voluntary or community group that is not incorporated but has at least 21 members who are locally registered to vote
- A parish council
- A neighbourhood forum
- A charity
- A community interest company
The group must not carry out their activities primarily for profit, and must partly or wholly re-invest any surplus in the Herefordshire area or in a neighbouring authority area.
What is the Community Right to Bid process?
- Identify an asset, for example building or land
- Prepare your group bid
- Ask Herefordshire Council to list the asset
- Herefordshire Council assess the asset and decide if it is successful or not to go on the official listing of assets of local community value
- If successful, you will be informed in the future if the asset comes up for sale
If the asset comes up for sale:
- Decide if you want to bid
- Prepare and submit your bid within six months
- The owner considers the community bid (the owner does not have to sell the property to the community)
- If your bid is accepted you take over ownership
- Herefordshire Council provides compensation to the landlord if they have been adversely affected by this process
For more information on the Community Right to Bid and for further support in making a nomination, visit My Community website or visit the Asset Transfer Unit page of the Locality website.
How do I submit a nomination under the Community Right to Bid?
If you are thinking about submitting a nomination you will need to put together the following information:
- Contact details - name of organisation, name of key contact, address, phone number, email address
- Evidence that you are eligible to make this nomination and have a local connection to the area
- A detailed description of the nominated land and/or building and the proposed boundaries. This will need to be accompanied by a map (recommended scale 1:1250 for larger sites and 1:500 for smaller sites) which clearly marks out these boundaries in red outline. The boundaries do not have to be the same as ownership boundaries
- Reasons for thinking that Herefordshire Council should list the land as a community asset including:
- How does the land and/or building currently (or in the recent past) further the social wellbeing and social interests of the local community?
- How will the land and/or building continue to function as an important community asset in the future?
- Owner information - names and addresses of current owners, names and current or last-known addresses of all those holding a freehold or leasehold estate in the land and/or building, names and addresses of any other lawful occupants.
Please email communityrighttobid@herefordshire.gov.uk in connection with making a nomination with any queries you may have.
To submit the nomination, complete the nomination form.
If all the necessary information is not submitted then we may be unable to consider an application.