The process can change slightly depending on who owns the site and what your route to ownership is. You can get a good idea of the process in our document: An eight-step guide to a community buyout
You can also watch our video: What is community landownership?
Communities of Geography
This means that your community can be defined on a map. Only geographic communities can use the Community Right to Buy or access the Scottish Land Fund. Geographic community landowners must have open membership to people living in a defined geographic area. Each group can choose their own geographic boundary. We focus our support on communities of Geography.
Communities of Interest
This means you are a community with a shared interest, but not part of a specific area. Communities of interest can buy land and buildings through other processes. This includes private sales and asset transfer from public bodies. We can put you in touch with the right expertise for your project!
We promote community ownership of all types. No matter what your community is, you can talk to us.
We are targeting our support and promotion in these local authority areas:
- Glasgow
- Inverclyde
- North Lanarkshire
- South Lanarkshire
- Renfrewshire
- East Renfrewshire
- East Dunbartonshire
- West Dunbartonshire
This is a pilot project; if successful, we would love to undertake similar projects in other areas.
Most of the land has been bought through negotiation with the seller. We are seeing more private landowners willing to sell to communities.
We are happy to help everyone explore the possibility of community ownership. There will be a different solution in each case. In some cases, this will be community ownership. In other cases, this may be leasing, some type of partnership, or something else. It’s also useful to think long-term – maybe the best solution is to lease one site now to test the idea. It may be that another site is the best long-term solution, that you could go on to buy.
Our job is to connect you with the right support. We will do our best to help you iron out any issues. However, your organisation needs to lead on funding applications and reports. This shows funders and other agencies that you can do this. It is also a helpful way of developing your thinking about the project.
We appreciate this can be an overwhelming task! We are always here for questions and to put you in touch with others who can help.
We don’t have interpreters on our team, but will find someone who can help. We want to hear from everyone and will do what it takes to include everyone. Please get in touch!
Yes you can do this!
It is overwhelming, and we’re not going to lie – the process of community ownership can be long and frustrating. But experiences have shown ownership can be transformative in local communities. Get inspiration, watch some videos on projects you admire, talk to people, remember what drives you to do this. If you want to talk to others who have been through it, let us know. There is a great network of community owners already who would love to hear about your project.
We work with all types of organisations across the board to support community ownership. We have lots of ideas about how community ownership can help local authorities and private developers deliver on their objectives – please get in touch!
