The Government has opened a consultation on their proposed Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill. It is an open consultation and the Bill will be drafted in light of the responses received.

Current Law

Currently a rural community with a population of less than 10,000 can register an interest in a piece of land and be given the first opportunity to buy it if it comes up for sale; as long as the community is able to demonstrate:-

• community support for the purchase; and
• positive economic, social and environmental consequences from the purchase.

Proposed Extension

Proposals under the consultation would extend the right to buy enjoyed by rural communities to larger towns and cities. This could allow people in urban areas to follow in the footsteps of recent successful rural community buyouts, such as the purchase of the former airbase at Machrihanish in Argyll where we acted for the community body.

The consultation also considers giving urban communities a right to use or manage unused or underused public sector assets in their areas by taking them over. This would be aided by the proposal that public sector authorities must publish a register of the assets held by them.

The Consultation

The consultation, which is in 3 parts and contains 49 short questions, runs until 29 August 2012 and will help shape the proposed Bill, part 2 of the consultation (Unlocking Enterprising Community Development) deals with the proposed extension of the right to buy.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered. After this there will be a consultation on a draft bill in spring 2013, with the hope that the legislation will be ready for introduction to the Scottish Parliament in winter 2013.

From our experiences with the current law, rural buyouts can provide a transformational benefit to the community and beyond. We would welcome any extension of the law that has the potential of providing more control to local communities.

If you would like advice on the proposed bill/consultation please do not hesitate to contact our charities and community regeneration team who would be happy to assist.