Meeting documents

Specific Policies - Community Properties

In certain circumstances properties may be held for other than the general objective to maximise total financial return. Such properties will be held within the Community portfolio and dealt with in accordance with this section.

Allocation of properties to this portfolio will depend on individual criteria established following assessment under the Asset Management Plan. Properties included in this portfolio go beyond the strict CIPFA definition of Community Assets.

There have been a number of initiatives recently to encourage community use of assets. Also the Council has an established policy for dealing with support given to tenants in Council owned land and buildings.

The Council owns a number of properties which are occupied by the voluntary and charitable sector. The arrangements for these occupations provide a robust and financially transparent regime which identifies the costs of supporting such bodies.

The government White paper `strong and prosperous communities' published in October 2006 was followed by the Quirk Review published in May 2007. The government has accepted this review by publishing its own report `opening the transfer window'. This whole agenda suggests that increased use of land and buildings by the community should be encouraged as a method to empower communities to develop local facilities. The Council's detailed policy in this respect is under development however the framework for such a policy is likely to revolve around transparent treatment of proposals in both capital and revenue terms.

Consideration of the performance of property assets will normally be undertaken in the context of one or other of the primary portfolios. The possibility of reallocation to the community portfolio will be considered as part of the process to challenge the performance of the asset.

As part of the review of asset performance generally and individual proposals, properties will suggest themselves for inclusion in this portfolio.

The performance of properties within this portfolio will be assessed individually by reference to criteria which identify and promote the reasons and justification for retention.

Individual performance criteria will be agreed as a part of the process of allocation of individual asset to this portfolio. Such performance criteria will be reviewed individually and reassessed as necessary.

The delegation to negotiate and settle the terms for the occupation of Council owned land and buildings rests with Property Services. All lettings will be at market rent.

This merely restates the core policy in this respect. Whilst services may wish to sponsor organisations any terms for leases will be independent of these arrangements. See below for the procedure to be followed in relation to lettings to voluntary bodies and other charitable organisations.

Land or buildings let to the voluntary sector etc will be at market rent and subject to other terms appropriate to the situation. The market rent will be set out in the agreement.

Unless the tenant and its aims and objectives are supported by a council service, the tenant will be expected to bear the whole rent but if a supporting services so wishes, it can arrange for an agreed level of rent subsidy to be made available from its budgets.

This provides the mechanism by which lettings can reflect service aspirations to support a particular organisation.

Where an amount of rent subsidy is provided, the supporting service and tenant will need to enter into a user agreement (or Service Level Agreement) specifying what the tenant will do for the Council/Community in return for the subsidy, its duration and provisions for review.

Such SLA will be separate document although linked to the lease. Circumstances may arise where the supporting service will withdraw some, or all, of the rent subsidy. In anticipation of such an instance, any lease will contain a provision enabling the tenant to terminate early unless it can find the resources to pay the rent in full.

All lettings will be managed in the usual way by using the property database. Financial arrangements will be transparent.

This is achieved by crediting the rent and debiting any subsidy at the time nay invoice is created. Where any subsidy is not 100% then any balance is payable by the organisation pursuant to the terms of the lease.

Where proposals emerge which seem to satisfy the wider Quirk agenda these will be treated on merit. Financial effects, either revenue or capital, will be transparent.

In the same way as the process for lettings described above, any proposals which would involve a longer letting or freehold sale will be dealt with in a fully transparent financial manner. In the case of any proposals which would involve an effect on the capital programme or the Council's asset base then such effects will be subject to capital strategy arrangements and be supported by a Project Initiation Document as the means of reporting.