Community Right to Bid under Localism Act set to come into force

The Community Right to Bid, one of the Government’s flagship measures in the Localism Act 2011, will come into force tomorrow (21 September).

The right allows parish councils as well as voluntary and community organisations to nominate assets to be included in a list of “assets of community value”.

This means that, where an asset is successfully listed, any sale will be delayed by six months to give communities time to prepare a business plan and put in a bid.

In a speech to the National Association of Local Councils, Communities Minister Don Foster said: "For too long communities have been shut out, forced to watch from the sidelines as treasured local assets, vital in people’s daily lives, have been shut down and sold on. We are determined to put an end to that and put people back at the centre of the future of their communities.

"The Community Right to Bid lets communities decide what's important to them and 'stop the clock' on sales so they have them the time to get together a bid, put together a plan and ensure that prized local assets can live on, this time run by the local community for the local community."

The Department for Communities and Local Government insisted that interest in using the right was high.

It cited the case of Cranleigh, where residents are planning to return the first village hospital in the community back into the hands of local people.