Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing a community asset focus for disposable public estate to provide accommodation for civil society organisations.

Public sector organisations holding any land or buildings are encouraged continuously to review their property portfolio to see whether any of their assets might become surplus to requirements. The details of government property for sale or rent can be found on Government Property Finder on GOV.UK.

Civil society organisations can identify any property in which they have an interest and contact the relevant department to discuss the possibility of a purchase.

Members of the public also have the option to challenge government organisations to sell land or property in their locality if they believe it is not needed and could be put to better economic use through the Right to Contest process.

As part of the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government has committed to developing a Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships. As part of this, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will review existing community asset frameworks which enable communities to protect local spaces.

The £150m Community Ownership Fund is already helping communities across the UK to protect valued local assets at risk of loss. Since July 2021, community groups have been able to bid for support from the Community Ownership Fund, for up to £250k in matched funding, or in exceptional cases up to £1m, to help them buy or take over assets for the local community.