The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act (the Act) received Royal Assent in April 2026. The act includes significant changes for the Asset of Community Value (ACV) regime that will affect everyone from owners to community groups.
Currently, community groups can nominate buildings or other land as an asset of community value if their main use is to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community and could do so in the future. Once registered, any proposed disposal of an ACV triggers a six–week moratorium during which community interest groups can express an interest in bidding.
If a group does express an interest, the moratorium extends to six months in total. The owner of the ACV can sell the asset to whoever they want once the moratorium period is up. The act will extend the moratorium period to 12 months and give community interest groups a right of first refusal. This is a fundamental shift.
The act is also broadening the assets that can be registered as ACVs. Assets that further the economic wellbeing and interests of a community will be eligible as well as those that further social wellbeing and interests. This means that a pub that is struggling as a going concern could qualify for listing as an ACV if it’s economically significant to the surrounding area.
Most ACVs are listed for five years, but sporting assets will be a distinct class and remain on the list of ACVs indefinitely. The practical implications of these changes are significant. A pub with a bowling green may find that the bowling green can be listed as an ACV independent of the pub and gain indefinite protection. The same logic could apply to pubs with sporting facilities such as skittle alleys or pétanque terrains, and to golf course clubhouses and other sports and social clubs.
Although the act gives community groups the right of first refusal, raising the finance to exercise the right within the extended 12–month moratorium will remain a significant practical obstacle. The government closed applications to the Community Ownership Fund in January 2025, and no replacement funding has been announced.
The act comes into force progressively. We don’t yet know when the provisions relating to ACVs will be introduced, but the current lack of funding for community groups may give us a clue.
Angela Rayner’s personal sponsorship of the act means its success or failure is linked to her specifically. Without a funding scheme, community groups will struggle to raise the funds needed to buy ACVs in spite of the extended moratorium and right of first refusal. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the single most significant driver of pub nominations, understands this. CAMRA wrote to Rayner calling for a dedicated fund to replace the Community Ownership fund, explaining that the new right of first refusal would be of “limited practical use without a programme and funding stream specifically for community ownership of pubs”.
The government is in a difficult position. If it commences the act without putting funding in place, it will be criticised for strengthening community rights in law while removing part of the financial infrastructure that makes it possible for them to exercise those rights in practice. Not commencing leaves a flagship piece of legislation sitting at least partially dormant on the statute book.
It would therefore make sense for the government to announce funding, either before or at the same time as commencement of the ACV provisions. If this is right, the period under the existing regime, with its six–month moratorium and no right of first refusal, may be longer than some in the sector think. Owners should be beware though: how long that window will remain open is uncertain and it will close without notice.
If funding to replace the Community Ownership Fund does materialise, expect the right of first refusal to bite in a meaningful number of cases. Some community groups will act fast; CAMRA is actively equipping its local branches with the tools to nominate pubs as ACVs, including guidance on maximising the prospects of a successful nomination and advice for dealing with resistant local authorities.
Councils will also be under greater pressure managing nominations, administering the extended moratorium, monitoring sale processes and defending compensation claims. Variable council administration of the current regime has already generated significant litigation and that may increase considerably.
What impact the new ACV regime will have depends on what financial support – if any – the government puts in place. Community groups such as CAMRA are gearing up to act. Owners of potential ACVs and their advisers would be wise to prepare too.
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The future for Assets of Community Value
By
Mark Brown
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The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act (the Act) received Royal Assent in April 2026. The act includes significant changes for the Asset of Community Value (ACV) regime that will affect everyone from owners to community groups.
Currently, community groups can nominate buildings or other land as an asset of community value if their main use is to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community and could do so in the future. Once registered, any proposed disposal of an ACV triggers a six–week moratorium during which community interest groups can express an interest in bidding.
If a group does express an interest, the moratorium extends to six months in total. The owner of the ACV can sell the asset to whoever they want once the moratorium period is up. The act will extend the moratorium period to 12 months and give community interest groups a right of first refusal. This is a fundamental shift.
The act is also broadening the assets that can be registered as ACVs. Assets that further the economic wellbeing and interests of a community will be eligible as well as those that further social wellbeing and interests. This means that a pub that is struggling as a going concern could qualify for listing as an ACV if it’s economically significant to the surrounding area.
Most ACVs are listed for five years, but sporting assets will be a distinct class and remain on the list of ACVs indefinitely. The practical implications of these changes are significant. A pub with a bowling green may find that the bowling green can be listed as an ACV independent of the pub and gain indefinite protection. The same logic could apply to pubs with sporting facilities such as skittle alleys or pétanque terrains, and to golf course clubhouses and other sports and social clubs.
Although the act gives community groups the right of first refusal, raising the finance to exercise the right within the extended 12–month moratorium will remain a significant practical obstacle. The government closed applications to the Community Ownership Fund in January 2025, and no replacement funding has been announced.
The act comes into force progressively. We don’t yet know when the provisions relating to ACVs will be introduced, but the current lack of funding for community groups may give us a clue.
Angela Rayner’s personal sponsorship of the act means its success or failure is linked to her specifically. Without a funding scheme, community groups will struggle to raise the funds needed to buy ACVs in spite of the extended moratorium and right of first refusal. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the single most significant driver of pub nominations, understands this. CAMRA wrote to Rayner calling for a dedicated fund to replace the Community Ownership fund, explaining that the new right of first refusal would be of “limited practical use without a programme and funding stream specifically for community ownership of pubs”.
The government is in a difficult position. If it commences the act without putting funding in place, it will be criticised for strengthening community rights in law while removing part of the financial infrastructure that makes it possible for them to exercise those rights in practice. Not commencing leaves a flagship piece of legislation sitting at least partially dormant on the statute book.
It would therefore make sense for the government to announce funding, either before or at the same time as commencement of the ACV provisions. If this is right, the period under the existing regime, with its six–month moratorium and no right of first refusal, may be longer than some in the sector think. Owners should be beware though: how long that window will remain open is uncertain and it will close without notice.
If funding to replace the Community Ownership Fund does materialise, expect the right of first refusal to bite in a meaningful number of cases. Some community groups will act fast; CAMRA is actively equipping its local branches with the tools to nominate pubs as ACVs, including guidance on maximising the prospects of a successful nomination and advice for dealing with resistant local authorities.
Councils will also be under greater pressure managing nominations, administering the extended moratorium, monitoring sale processes and defending compensation claims. Variable council administration of the current regime has already generated significant litigation and that may increase considerably.
What impact the new ACV regime will have depends on what financial support – if any – the government puts in place. Community groups such as CAMRA are gearing up to act. Owners of potential ACVs and their advisers would be wise to prepare too.
Mark Brown is a partner at Freeths
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