The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 aims to empower communities by giving them control over assets, enabling them to work together to improve their communities.
The Act shifts asset transfer from a voluntary approach by public bodies to a formal right for community organisations to request ownership, leasing, management, or use of publicly owned buildings or land, regardless of whether they are for sale or deemed surplus.
We are responsible for assessing these requests transparently against specific criteria. Requests will be approved unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse them.
The term ‘non-operational’ refers to property that is held but is not used directly or indirectly for delivering a council service.
Guidance
This guidance is designed to inform community groups interested in a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) by providing an overview of the process and sources of further information.