Community Ownership Fund round 4: application form assessment criteria guidance
This guidance provides you with detailed information of the assessment criteria used when assessing your full applications. It sets out how to apply the assessment criteria in your full application to the Fund.
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The Community Ownership Fund is now closed. There will be no further application windows on the COF programme. We have taken this difficult decision due to the challenging inheritance left by the previous government.
Whilst we are closing the Community Ownership Fund, this government remains committed to the communities’ sector and community empowerment.
The government will deliver on its manifesto commitment to replace the community ‘Right to Bid’ with a strengthened ‘Right to Buy’ Assets of Community Value, creating a more robust pathway to community asset ownership. And we will seek to support high streets by strengthening Business Improvement Districts which have helped to improve town and city centres across the United Kingdom for 20 years, while ensuring they operate to high standards and are accountable to their communities.
We have also implemented new High Street Rental Auction regulations, providing local communities and businesses with a right to rent premises that have long sat vacant, casting a cloud over the local area. The power will help to provide new shops and community spaces, supporting businesses and communities to access the high street and create vibrant, bustling spaces they can be proud of.
We encourage any community groups seeking funding to preserve community assets, including those who may have submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) but did not submit a full application, to continue to use the guidance and tools available through our development support provider on the MyCommunity site. These tools have been designed to help any organisation seeking to save an asset that is important to them and their local community and will remain available beyond the COF programme. The development support provider may also be able to help to suggest alternative sources of funding that organisations could look to secure.
The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment to communities and there will be further announcements relating to communities in the new year, including on the community ownership of assets.
The UK government will assess bids from across the UK against a common assessment framework.
Applications will be scored using this framework, and final decisions on funding will be made by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
This guidance is a streamlined version of the same guidance which assessors will use to assess applications from Round 4 of the fund. This guidance is written for assessors but will show applicants what we require in application form answers in order to obtain either a satisfactory, good or strong score. We suggest that applicants use this guidance to support them in their application to the fund. See further guidance on how to write an effective business plan.
Updates to this page
Published 12 May 2023Last updated 23 December 2024 + show all updates
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Update on Community Ownership Fund Round 4.
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Statement added on the status of Round 4 of the Fund.
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Added translation.
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Added new version for Round 4.
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Form updated to reflect extension of the maximum capital funding available to new applicants from Round 3 Window 2 onwards.
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First published.