Consequences of a Building or other Land Being Included in the List of Assets of Community Value
| Author | Simon Adamyk |
| Pages | 161-226 |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER – THE FOUR MAIN CONSEQUENCES OF A BUILDING OR OTHER LAND BEING INCLUDED IN A LOCAL AUTHORITY’S LIST OF ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUE
5.1 There are four main consequences of a building or other land being included in a local authority’s list of assets of community value. First, the Act imposes a moratorium period in relation to certain proposed disposals of the land. This is dealt with in paragraphs 5.3 to 5.75. Secondly, the status of the land as an ACV raises various planning considerations. These are dealt with in paragraphs 5.76 to
5.100. Thirdly, private owners of an ACV may be entitled to compensation in respect of certain loss or expense which they have incurred as a consequence of the listing. This is dealt with in paragraphs 5.101 to 5.160. Fourthly, there is some (very limited) guidance to local authorities who may receive requests from community or local bodies to use their compulsory purchase powers to acquire ACVs that are in danger of being lost where the owner of the asset is unwilling to sell. This is dealt with in paragraphs 5.161 to 5.170.
NO SUSPENSION OF LISTING PENDING REVIEW OR APPEAL
5.2 There is no provision in the Act or the Regulations for the suspension of listing during an internal review by the local authority
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the First-tier Tribunal.
unless and until an asset is removed from the list of assets of community value.
(A) MORATORIUM ON DISPOSALS
Operation of the moratorium in outline
5.3 A moratorium on certain disposals is imposed by section 95 of the Act. In outline, the moratorium operates so as to prevent certain proposed disposals of the land being made until several specified conditions are met. In outline these conditions are as follows:
(a) the owner has notified the local authority that he wishes to enter into a relevant disposal;
(b) a period of 6 weeks has then passed without the local authority receiving a written request from a community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder for the land (the so-called ‘interim moratorium period’) or, if such a request has been made, a total period of 6 months has passed (the so-called ‘full moratorium period’); and
(c) an 18-month ‘protected period’, starting with the date of the owner’s notification to the local authority, has not ended.
5.4 The Government summarised the effect of the moratorium in this way:
2.10 Once an asset has been listed nothing further will happen unless and until the owner decides to dispose of it, either through a freehold sale, or the grant or assignment of a qualifying lease (i.e. originally granted for at least twenty-five years).
2.11 Unless an exemption applies, the owner will only be able to dispose of the asset after a specified window has expired.
2.12 The first part of this window is a 6 week interim period, which will apply in all cases, from the point the owner notifies the local authority. This will allow community interest groups to make a written request to be treated as a potential bidder. If none do so in this period, the owner is free to sell their asset at the end of the 6 weeks.
2.13 If a community interest group as defined in regulation 12 of the Regulations (referring to the bodies in paragraph (1) (d) to (g) of regulation 5) does make a request during this interim period, then the full 6 month moratorium (again from the point the owner notifies the local authority) will operate. During this period the owner may continue to market and negotiate sales, but may not exchange contracts (or enter into a binding contract to do so later). There is one exception. The owner may sell to a community interest group during the moratorium period.
2.14 After the moratorium period – either the 6 weeks if there has been no community interest, or the full 6 months – the owner is free to sell to whomever they choose and at whatever price, and no further moratorium will apply for the remainder of a protected period lasting 18 months (running from the same start date of when the owner notified the local authority of wishing to sell). The process and lengths of the moratorium periods are contained in section 95 of the Act.
5.5 In relation to the policy underlying the moratorium, the Government stated during the passage of the Bill through Parliament:
The clause [dealing with the moratorium] creates a window of opportunity for eligible community groups to organise themselves to get a business plan together and raise the funding that they need to buy an asset that they wish to keep for their local neighbourhood. … There is tension between different rights and interests, and there is potentially tension between the wish of a local community to use the assets in its neighbourhood and the wider interests of economic growth. Therefore, we have spent some time working through a provision that balances those interests effectively, and various aspects of that have already arisen in the debate. There has been discussion about exactly what an eligible community interest group is, and we have a route in the legislation to deal with that.
This is the main debate about the periods of time for the different windows in the Bill. Our view is that a full window of opportunity of six months represents an achievable time frame for community groups to organise themselves and to raise finance, and it would not be a disproportionate inconvenience for asset owners. However, that is part of the consultation. The interim window should be six weeks, which is the time in which a community group has to register an initial interest.
If no community bidder has come forward, the protected period beyond the moratorium, in which the owner is free to sell the asset, should be 18 months. However, we are very keen to receive views on the suggestions. I agree with the hon. Lady that, in that respect, the consultation, which ends on 3 May [2011], is important. It is also important not to put in place something that displaces existing
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good practice, because local authorities and other owners are often willing to collaborate with community groups.
Operation of the moratorium in more detail
5.6 The owner
5.7 First, the owner must notify the local authority in writing
5.8 When the local authority receives notice from the owner of his wish to enter into a relevant disposal of an ACV, the local authority must do three things:
(a) The local authority must amend the entry for that ACV in the authority’s list of assets of community value to show: (i) that such notice has been received in respect of the land; (ii) the date when the authority received the notice; and (iii) the ends of the ‘interim moratorium period’ (as described below), the ‘full moratorium period’ (as described below) and the ‘protected period’ (as described below) that apply as a result of the notice.
(b) If the land was included in the local authority’s list of assets of community value in response to a community nomination, the authority must give written notice to the person who made the nomination of the matters mentioned in (i), (ii) and (iii) in point (a) above.
(c) The local authority must make arrangements for those matters to be publicised in the area where the ACV is situated.
details are provided in the Act or the Regulations of exactly what steps the local authority is to take in order to publicise these matters, and it is for the local authority to determine how they do this.
Presumably, the steps could include any or all of putting up signs
physically on or near the ACV, placing a suitable notice in a local newspaper and/or putting a suitable notice on the local authority’s website.
5.9 The date on which the local authority receives the owner’s notice starts the ‘interim moratorium period’ of 6 weeks running.
5.10 Therefore a community interest group has a 6-week ‘interim moratorium period’ within which...
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