Community Rights

The Localism Act 2011 brought in a number of new rights which your council may wish to investigate and possibly use when appropriate. 

The Community Right to Bid allows an appropriate body (which includes parish councils) to propose community assets for inclusion on a register held by the district/unitary authority. When assets on the register are sold there is an opportunity for community groups to bid to buy the asset. There is no guarantee that the bid will be accepted but at least there is the opportunity. Go to the mycommunityrights website for more information.

The Community Right to Build gives communities the power to build new shops, housing or community facilities without going through the normal planning process. Read more on the Understanding the Community Right to Build guide and also find out how it works.


The Community Right to Challenge gives local groups the opportunity to express their interest in taking over a local service where they think they can do it differently and better. Read the Understanding the Community Right to Challenge guide and find out how it works.

Neighbourhood Development Planning powers give people the chance to decide how their local area should develop and what should be built.More here on the Locality website or on the Community Council for Berkshire website