Why Transfer Assets To The Community?
The reasons for asset transfer fall into two distinct categories:
- Policy: putting an asset into community hands with a new community-focused use can fulfil specific policy objectives. For example, it can help you deliver targets within your Local Area Agreement or community sports plan. These targets could be for sport or wellbeing as well as targets for supporting a thriving third sector. Asset transfer can support policy objectives in other policy areas such as:
- Neighbourhood renewal
- Community empowerment. cohesion and capacity building
- The reform of local government and citizen engagement
- Support for the development of social and community enterprise
- The design and care of parks and the ‘public realm’
- Health promotion through participation in sport
- Financial: it may represent better value to change the management of an asset. An asset that was previously underused, a liability or a drain on resources could be more efficiently run by a voluntary or community group. Such a group might also be able to access sources of funds to develop the asset that the Public Sector Organisation could not. For Public Sector Organisations the transfer of an asset might also represent an opportunity to reduce costs associated with building maintenance and provide a capital receipt if it is sold. However, asset transfer should not be about maximising income for the Public Sector Organisation – for example by selling to community groups at full market value.