Assets of community value: what listing does and does not do

Listing a building as an asset of community value buys the community a pause, never a veto. If the owner decides to sell, a listing under the Localism Act 2011 can delay that sale by up to six months so a local group has time to raise money and make an offer. It does not stop the sale. It does not fix the price, and it does not stop the owner accepting a different buyer once the delay expires. Campaigns that misunderstand that gap tend to end in bitterness, because the village hall or the pub gets sold anyway and everyone blames the council.

What the Localism Act actually creates

Part 5, Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011 requires every local authority in England to keep a list of assets of community value, and to keep a second list of nominations it has rejected. Section 88 sets the qualifying test in two limbs. The current main use of the building or land must further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community, and it must be realistic to think that the use can carry on for the next five years. A recent past use counts too, provided the authority thinks community use could realistically resume within five years.

Social interests are defined to include cultural, recreational and sporting interests. In practice that catches pubs, village shops, libraries, playing fields, scout huts, allotments, swimming pools, working men's clubs and the occasional car park that serves a high street.

A listing lasts five years. Once it expires the asset comes off the list unless someone nominates it again.

Residential property is excluded, along with most caravan sites and operational land of statutory undertakers. A flat above a listed pub does not defeat the nomination, because the test looks at the main use.

Who may nominate, and what the nomination has to say

Nominations come from parish councils and from voluntary or community bodies with a local connection: unincorporated community groups of at least 21 local members, neighbourhood forums, parish councils for a neighbouring parish, charities, community interest companies and industrial and provident societies. An individual resident cannot nominate alone.

The nomination must describe the boundary of the asset, name the freeholder and any leaseholders as far as they are known, and set out why the nominating body believes the section 88 test is met. That last part is where most nominations fall down. A paragraph of sentiment about a much loved pub carries no weight. Dates, photographs, membership lists, booking records, minutes of meetings held on the premises and evidence of recent trading do.

The authority then has eight weeks to decide, and must tell the owner. Listing is registered as a local land charge and as a restriction on the title at HM Land Registry, so it will surface on a buyer's searches in the same way other obligations appear on title.

The moratorium and what it pauses

Nothing happens until the owner gives the authority written notice of an intention to make a relevant disposal. That notice starts the clock.

At the end of the moratorium the owner sells to whomever they choose, at whatever price they choose. The community group has no right of first refusal and no right to match. This is why the statutory label is the community right to bid.

Several disposals are exempt altogether under Schedule 3 to the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012. Gifts, transfers between family members, transfers of a part interest, disposals of a going concern including the land, and transfers under a will or intestacy all pass without any moratorium. Share sales sit outside the regime entirely, because the legal owner of the land has not changed. A determined seller who takes advice early can often structure around the listing, and honest campaigners should say so at the outset.

Whether a listing counts as a material consideration

It can, and the courts have accepted that it may. Listing tells a decision maker that the authority has already formed a view that the building furthers local social wellbeing, which speaks directly to the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework on guarding against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services. Weight is a matter for the decision maker, so a listing is evidence rather than a trump card.

Two practical points follow. First, the listing decision and the planning decision are separate: an authority can list a building on Monday and grant permission to demolish it on Thursday without contradicting itself, because the tests differ. Second, listing sits alongside, not instead of, local plan policy protecting community facilities. Where the adopted plan requires marketing evidence before a community use is lost, that policy will usually do more work than the listing does. Check what sits in the development plan for the area before relying on the listing alone.

For public houses specifically, listing no longer carries the weight it once did. Permitted development rights allowing pubs to become shops, offices or restaurants were removed across England in 2017, and drinking establishments became a sui generis use in September 2020. Every change of use or demolition of a pub now needs an express planning application whether or not the pub is listed.

Compensation and the owner's right of review

Private owners can claim compensation from the authority for loss or expense incurred because of the listing or a failed disposal. The obvious head of claim is a period of empty property costs during a moratorium, or legal and valuation fees incurred twice. Claims must be made in writing within thirteen weeks of the loss being incurred.

An owner who disputes the listing has eight weeks from being notified to ask the authority for an internal review, which must be carried out by a more senior officer than the one who made the original decision. If the review upholds the listing, the owner may appeal to the First-tier Tribunal in the General Regulatory Chamber. Tribunal decisions on section 88 are published and are worth reading before nominating anything marginal, because they show how narrowly the "realistic to think" limb is applied to buildings that have been closed for years.

Using a listing properly in an objection

Treat the listing as one strand of evidence and build the rest around it.

1. Cite the listing by date and by the authority's list entry, and attach the decision notice rather than describing it.
2. Identify the adopted local plan policy that protects community facilities and address every limb of it, including any marketing period and any requirement to demonstrate the facility is no longer viable.
3. Test the applicant's viability evidence. Accounts covering only the final trading year of a deliberately run down business prove very little.
4. Set out what a community purchase would look like in practice, with a named body, a funding route and a timescale. Vague enthusiasm is discounted.
5. Point the case officer to the loss of the service itself rather than to the change of ownership, which is not a planning matter.

If the proposal involves demolition or a change of use, expect the council to want a supporting statement dealing with all of this. PlanScope drafts a Planning Statement and other supporting documents from your answers and flags where site facts are missing. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports the site is likely to need.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. This article is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.