Supporting Communities

Community Ownership Hub -

The process of community land ownership is complicated, but it can be truly rewarding for communities to build the future they want.

We help in a number of ways, including:

  • Answering any questions about community land ownership. If we can’t help you ourselves, we will put you in touch with the right person to answer your question.
  • Providing support and guidance to communities looking to progress with private negotiated sales and tips on Community Right to Buy.

The Support We Offer

Explaining community ownership

Help understanding site data

Advice on next steps

Support on solving tricky ownership topics

How Our Support Works

Understanding Community Ownership:

There are different routes to community ownership, including:

  • Private negotiated sales
  • Community right to buy
  • Asset transfer from public bodies

We can help explain these different routes, including which would be most relevant to your site, or if you just want to understand the topic better.

This video and this chart give an overview of the process of a negotiated sale.

If we can’t help you ourselves, we will put you in touch with the right person to answer your question.

We work as part of a network of organisations that support community ownership. In particular, the Scottish Government Community Land Team provide guidance on Community Right to Buy, and DTAS COSS provides support services for asset transfer from public bodies.

Accessing Data:

It can be hard to understand site information, such as who owns it and what plans there are for development.  We aim to remove this barrier by helping you understand available data, so that your decisions are based on the best information.

We also pay for initial legal support for groups who have particularly challenging land ownership issues.

Community Ownership Hub - graphic of key
Advice & Next Steps:

Community groups can sometimes get stuck at different points along their land ownership journey. We can help work through challenges, and clarify what to do next.

We can explain things such as governance structures that allow you to hold land, help you start conversations with funders, or introduce you to another community group that has worked through a similar issue.

Support for tricky topics:

We can help with support gaps for community buy-out of land or buildings.  Let us know what your challenge is, we’ll do our best to help you work through it. Sometimes this requires expert support, which we may be able to provide funding for.

We have found that community engagement is often a challenge for groups starting out in community ownership. We are now accepting expressions of interest for Community Engagement support. More information is available about how to apply below.