Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to replace the Community Ownership Fund.

On 23 December 2024, we announced that the Community Ownership Fund (COF) is closed and that there will be no further application windows. Whilst we have closed the COF programme, this Government remains committed to the communities sector and to community empowerment.

As part of the Spending Review, we announced communities funding for up to 350 places, which will serve as the cornerstone of this Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 75 Plan for Neighbourhoods areas announced in March.

Through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, we will also introduce a new Community Right to Buy to give local people stronger powers to acquire valued community spaces. This new measure will give community groups the first option to purchase registered assets when they are put up for sale and a longer timeframe to raise funding to purchase the asset.

The Bill will also expand the definition of an Asset of Community Value (ACV) to help protect a wider range of assets, including those that support the economy of a community and those that were historically of importance to the community. This will empower local people to bring community spaces back into community ownership and help to end the blight of empty properties on our high streets.