The Community Ownership Fund, a £150m project to support community groups across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, will close early with millions of pounds reportedly left in the pot.
Launched in March 2021, the initiative was due to run until the end of next year but is now expected to close in March 2025.
Under the scheme, communities were able to bid for up to £250,000 to save local assets at risk of being lost, including pubs.
The Government update detailed: “There will be no further application windows on the Community Ownership Fund programme.
Difficult decision
“We have taken this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous Government.
“While we are closing the Community Ownership Fund, this Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and community empowerment.”
It added the Government still aimed to deliver its manifesto commitment to replace the community ‘Right to Bid’ with a strengthened ‘Right to Buy’ ‘Assets of Community Value’ (ACVs), creating a “more robust pathway” to community asset ownership.
The funding has saved a number of pubs since its launch, including the Chequers Inn pub in Roxwell, Essex, which was purchased by the Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society Ltd in April this year.
The Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society Ltd was established in 2023 specifically to achieve a community buyout of the Chequers Inn.
Cherished establishment
Speaking in April, the society’s chair, Sam Metson, said the purchase marked an “important milestone” for the community’s efforts to preserve the “cherished establishment”.
The closure of the Community Ownership Fund comes as the sector continues to battle rising costs across the board, with more tax hikes on the horizon in April next year.
Moreover, inflationary pressures, Covid debt repayments and rising beer prices are also putting pressure on pubs.
According to a recent poll from the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), the cost increases introduced in the Budget will render eight in 10 (80%) pubs unprofitable next year.
