‘The Community Right to Buy is now law. Labour must go further to make it count’

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The Community Right to Buy has finally made it onto the statute book, following Royal Assent for the… The post ‘The Community Right to Buy is now law. Labour must go further to make it count’ appeared first on LabourList.

The Community Right to Buy has finally made it onto the statute book, following Royal Assent for the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act. For those who have campaigned alongside Locality on this for more than a decade – including Plunkett UK, Power to Change, Co-operatives UK, the We’re Right Here campaign and beyond – this is a genuinely significant moment.

This government deserves credit for getting it over the line. After repeated false starts under previous administrations, this is a meaningful shift in the balance towards communities. Legislative progress on community power doesn’t come around often.

But history tells us something important: passing the law is the easier part. Making it work on the ground is where things have too often stalled.

From aspiration to reality

Efforts to give communities more control over local assets are not new. The last Labour government made important strides, with “double devolution” capturing a clear ambition that power should move beyond town halls into communities themselves.

That ambition carried through, imperfectly, into the Localism Act. But the Community Right to Bid never lived up to its promise. In practice, communities were given limited time, little financial backing, and no guarantee of success. Too often they did the work, only to see buildings sold anyway.

The lesson is straightforward: rights on paper can fall short without the conditions needed to make them usable.

The new Community Right to Buy is a stronger offer. It gives communities first refusal, more time, and a broader definition of community assets. These are meaningful changes that shift the odds for local people trying to hold onto the places that matter.

Across the country, that work is already happening. Community organisations are running libraries, saving pubs, and creating spaces where people can come together.

In Leeds, the future of Bramley Baths was secured and revitalised by the community. In Trafford, Stretford Public Hall has been transformed into a thriving community space after standing empty for over a decade.

This new right makes that work more viable.

The risk of a two-tier system

But there is a risk that cannot be ignored. If this right is to mean anything in practice, it has to be usable by more than the best-resourced communities.

We already know how national support can build local infrastructure and social capital. The Community Ownership Fund backed hundreds of projects across the country, helping local groups step in where closure or dereliction seemed inevitable.

And demand for support far outstripped supply. The Fund was majorly oversubscribed. And yet, it closed in 2025 without a clear successor.

That leaves a gap at exactly the moment demand is set to grow.

Without investment, a pattern will emerge: communities with time, expertise and access to finance will benefit. Others will not. The result is a system that works, but not for everyone.

Building on Labour’s legacy

Labour has a strong tradition to build on. From early 2000s regeneration programmes to community asset transfer, there has long been recognition that local people should shape their neighbourhoods.

This government now has the opportunity to go further.

That means matching the new right with investment and support: development funding, access to capital, and practical help to deliver projects. It also means aligning community ownership with wider priorities like economic growth and public health.

The economic case is already clear. Community ownership generates wider local benefit and attracts additional investment. Every £1 invested in community asset ownership generates around £2.50 in local economic benefit. It is a practical tool for inclusive growth.

Power has to reach the neighbourhood level

The Act’s wider devolution measures are also significant. But there is a familiar tension. While power is moving out of Westminster, much of it is being concentrated at a regional level.

If it stops there, it risks missing the institutions people actually trust. Community organisations and neighbourhood groups are where civic participation happens in reality.

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New neighbourhood governance structures could help but only if they are built from the ground up. Otherwise, they risk becoming another layer of bureaucracy rather than a route to real influence.

A test of intent

For the thousands of local organisations already working in this space, this Act is a tangible step forward.

The real test for Labour now is whether it is willing to back the Community Right to Buy with the resources needed to make it meaningful in every part of the country; if it is willing to lead a culture change in local government that puts communities at the heart of decision-making.

This would not just honour the party’s past efforts to empower communities – it would define what that mission looks like in the years ahead.

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