ACVs get teeth

Assets of Community Value (ACV) are currently a largely toothless regime which give the community a right to bid for an asset. The bid can be ignored by the current owner, but the moratorium period may mean that the sale is delayed for about six months.

The current ACV regime is a bit of a backwater within the legislative regime, but that could be about to change drastically.  The government has proposed the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (Bill) which is currently working its way through Parliament.  As of 15 April 2026 the Bill was having its third reading in the House of Lords.  The Bill is likely to be enacted towards the end of 2026.

The way that ACVs currently work is complex, but the key factors are that listing as an ACV is always considered a material consideration for planning and the community have a right to bid for an asset and not a right to buy the asset.

The Bill proposes to change this (but not the complexity, which if anything will get worse) so that listing as an ACV will still be a material consideration for planning, but the community will now have a right to buy the asset (once the owner has served a notice of intention to sell). What can be considered of community value is also proposed to be broadened by the addition of an extra possibility being that the asset "furthers the economic wellbeing".

Broadly the value will be determined by an independent valuer and the owner will have to sell to the community (for that price) if they want it (once the owner has served a notice of intention to sell).

There will also be a new category of a Sporting ACV, the listing of which will last indefinitely and the Council will have an obligation to find which assets meet the definition and list them.

Owners/purchasers of assets which are not currently listed will now have to pay much more attention to the actual use that the asset is put to and has (at any time) been put to (as the tests for listing will change). They will also have to engage much more seriously with the community and the listing process.

The upshot of the proposed regime is that a private community group will have the right to buy an asset from a private owner at a price which is independently set.

ACVs currently have bark but no bite, soon they will have bite too!

If you would like further information or to discuss this please contact

Jade.Chalmers@howardkennedy.com

or Bob.Sadler@howardkennedy.com