CLES welcomes announcement of Community Right to Buy Fund

Responding to Communities Secretary Steve Reed’s announcement of a £61m Community Right to Buy Fund to help communities in deprived areas take ownership of at-risk community assets, Simon Grove-White at the Centre for Local Economies (CLES) said:

“This welcome news will give people greater control over the places they call home. Investment of this kind, alongside community power pilots, is an important step in rebuilding trust and supporting local leadership.

“But let’s keep this investment in perspective. £61m fund is less than half the funding provided under the previous government’s Community Ownership Fund, which was heavily oversubscribed, highlighting both the scale of demand and the gap in support that remains. Alone, it cannot compensate for decades of economic decline, insecure work and regional inequality. Without addressing their root causes, we are trying to refill a bathtub without putting the plug in. Pubs, shops and other local assets are disappearing not by chance, but because a rentier-led economy siphons wealth out of the places that create it.

“For community power to be truly transformative, this funding must be part of a bigger change to build local economies that put people and productivity ahead of passive profiteering – embedding community wealth building at every level to ensure wealth is generated, retained and reinvested locally through democratic ownership, fair employment and stronger local supply chains.”