Community Ownership Fund

Running until 2024/25, the £150 million Community Ownership Fund is for communities across the United Kingdom. It has been set up to help communities take ownership of assets at risk of closure.

Voluntary and community organisations can bid for match funding to support the purchase and/or renovation costs of community assets.

The Fund hopes to support a range of proposals enabling people and communities across the UK to thrive.

Proposals will need to prove the value of the asset to local people and that the asset can run sustainably for the long-term benefit of the community.

The Fund will run until 2024/25 and DLUHC intend to run 3 bidding windows each year for applicants to submit a full application to the Fund.

So far, the Community Ownership Fund has awarded £16.74m to 70 projects across the UK, with £11.8m allocated across England, £2.0m allocated to Scotland, £1.6m to Wales and £1.3m to Northern Ireland. 46 projects are in England, 10 of these projects are in Scotland, 8 of these projects are in Wales, and 6 of these projects are in Northern Ireland.

Deadline

The deadline for applications for this funding round is 14 April 2023 at 11:59am.

DLUHC will aim to communicate outcomes of applications in summer 2023.  If you plan to apply in this biddy window, you need to express your interest at least 3 weeks before the closing date of 14 April 2023. Anyone from England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland can express an interest in applying. The process is the same in all areas.

What are assets?

Assets are venues and meeting spaces used by the local community, such as:

• community centres
• cinemas and theatres
• galleries
• museums
• music venues
• parks
• post office buildings
• pubs
• shops
• sporting and leisure facilities

Support

Early stage support is now available to applicants via the My Community website . Please note that the service currently only offers initial advice, such as questions about the content of this prospectus. A more in-depth support offer to develop successful business cases will not be available to applicants in this window, but will be offered in the next bidding round.

Further information

For more information go to the GOV.UK website