Community Ownership Fund makes further changes after feedback

The Government has launched Round Three of the Community Ownership Fund, inviting voluntary and community groups to bid for match funding to take ownership of local assets and run them for the benefit of the local community.

The £150m fund is open to community groups in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It will run until 2024/25.

After the first funding round, there was criticism that the application process was too onerous for community groups, which are often run by volunteers with limited time and capacity. Many organisations had to divert limited capacity to the application process or had to hire professional consultants.

Round Two was delayed to allow the Government to make changes to the eligibility criteria and programme. A consortium of 10 support organisations (led by Locality) was introduced. Project timelines were also extended to 12 months.

Round Three of the Fund has seen further changes. The match funding requirement has been reduced to a minimum of 20% (down from 50% in previous rounds) for most projects. 

Funding in action: Saving the local hardware shop

Asset types so far supported by the Fund include community centres, pubs, sports clubs and heritage buildings, and also a riding for the disabled service.  In the first bidding round, the Community Ownership Fund funded 38 projects totalling £10.07 million. However, there has been some criticism of the small amount of funds disbursed during the first two rounds.

In the small town of Newport / Trefdraeth in Pembrokeshire, the Fund supported the purchase of a local hardware store. Havards hardware shop has sold small useful everyday items such as hand tools, nails and screws, crockery and gardening equipment for 141 years. The town is a popular tourist destination in the summer, but local resources are limited. When the shop looked likely to close in 2022, Newport residents set up a community benefit society and launched a share offer to buy the building and run it as a community shop. They raised an impressive £445,000.

Local people then worked with the Cwmpas development agency to make a compelling case for additional funding and successfully won £200,000 in capital funding from the Fund and a further £30,000 in revenue funding. It is now the UK's first community-owned hardware shop.

Round Three funding

Round Three will close on 12 July 2023. Organisations can apply for up to £250,000 to purchase or lease an asset and pay for its refurbishment. The Government has extended the maximum funding cap so that projects of any asset type can now apply for up to £2 million of capital funding.

Applications for over £250,000 should demonstrate a strong strategic case for funding, including being able to demonstrate that the additional funding will generate further benefits proportionate to the size of the request.

In addition, up to £50,000 is available to fund project development costs or running costs in the first year of operation. These costs don't need match funding.

What are the eligibility criteria?

All projects must fulfil the following requirements:

• Applicants must be an incorporated voluntary and community organisation or a parish (or equivalent) council
• The asset is at risk without community involvement
• The asset will provide a long-term community benefit and profits made from the use of the asset should be reinvested back into the community
• Applicants can match fund their capital grant request from other sources
• The asset will come into community ownership within 12 months of being offered funding
• The funded element of the project will be spent within 12 months of being offered.

What is the application process?

Applicants must first submit an Expression of Interest form. These expressions of interest forms can be completed and submitted at any time

If successful, applicants will be invited to submit a full application during the application windows.

The Community Ownership Fund bidding prospectus provides detailed guidance on the aims of the fund, eligibility criteria, funding and support assessment criteria and the decision-making process.