Community Ownership Fund
Is a building or piece of land of value to your community at risk of being closed or lost?
Community ownership gives local people control over the buildings and spaces that matter to them and that these spaces are used in ways that meet the priorities and needs of the local community.
DTA Wales is one of 10 leading community support organisations that combine our knowledge and skills to help potential applicants develop their project proposals and apply to the Community Ownership Fund. Between us we cover the whole of the UK; offering a deep knowledge base and experience of working with organizations to develop a range of community assets.
The £150m Community Ownership Fund (COF) exists to help communities across the UK to take ownership of assets at risk of closure from parks to pubs, lidos to libraries. It will run until March 2025.
Click here to read some of the successful stories that have already come from the Community Ownership Fund.
Who is the funding for?
You can apply if you are incorporated voluntary and community organisation or a parish (or equivalent) council Common legal structures for community organisations are expected to include CIOs, SCIOs, Co-operatives including Community Benefit Societies; CICs or not for profit companies limited by guarantee. Unincorporated applications can apply at the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage but must be an eligible organisation before applying at the full application stage.
What is a community asset?
A community asset can be any buildings or land used for the welfare or social interest of the local community, including green spaces, libraries, cultural spaces, leisure facilities, community centres, pubs and more. The asset must be at risk of closure, sale or neglect without community involvement, and continue to be of community benefit in the future.
About the funding:
You can apply for up to £250,000 to buy or lease an asset or pay for refurbishment costs on buildings or land which is used for the well-being or social interest of the local community. These include green spaces, libraries, cultural spaces, leisure facilities, community centres, pubs and more.
In exceptional cases, up to £1m is available from the COF for each type of asset where the asset is at risk of being lost. You must contribute 20% of ‘match’ funding towards the total capital required – sources can include grants, loans and non-cash sources such as donations of relevant goods and services or the value of a discount on a long-term leasehold or freehold from a public body, for example as part of an asset transfer.
The Community Ownership Fund is offered by the Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities (DLUHC) and delivered by 10 organisations in the UK, led in Wales by DTA Wales.
You can connect with arfonhughes@dtawales.org.uk to learn more – Arfon will be leading an information websinar on the 11th of September, 12-2pm, on How to Build a Strong Application and to answer your questions. Information on how to register will appear on the MyCommunity website soon. You might also find it helpful to watch a recording from a previous informational webinar we held on the 22nd of May 2023.
Read the full eligibility criteria here: What-is-the-Community-Ownership-Fund.pdf (mycommunity.org.uk)
We are helping local people to have control over the buildings and spaces that have significance to them so that the spaces can be used in ways that meet the priorities and needs of the local community. All enquiries must go through https://mycommunity.org.uk/community-ownership-fund