This form should be completed by a relevant VCS Group to register interest in a property listed on the VCS Available Property List.
Please be prepared to provide specific comments on the following in this form:
- How your group meets the definition of VCS Group as identified in Clause 2.2
- Provide a summary of the proposed use and how it aligns with WNC’s corporate priorities
- The proposed business plan for the property and how this would be financially sustainable
- Provide a summary of any proposed changes or alterations you propose
About the Council's property ownership
The Council owns, generally freehold, a wide range of property. This includes its direct operational facilities such as offices, depots, civic accommodation, libraries, and parks; community buildings such as community centres; and commercial property including shops, warehouses, and factories. All of this property is intended to support achievement of the Council’s objectives, whether through service provision, income generation, regeneration, or a combination of these. Preserving some historic properties is an objective in its own right. In some cases, property is deliberately placed in the hands of others to deliver a service, typically one focused on community needs but also some operational properties such as depots.
Owning property can be financially beneficial, but – particularly where the property is not appropriate or efficient for service provision or in occupation by a commercial tenant – it also carries costs. These costs include maintenance, security, general management, and typically business rates. Where a property has a positive capital value retaining it also carries an opportunity cost; if sold or rented out commercially, the income could be used for other purposes supporting the Council’s objectives.
The Council also receives frequent requests to provide property, often at below-market rates, from groups or organisations which provide some form of benefit to the community. The Policy on the Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise and Faith Group use of property policy is designed to provide a means by which the Council can make well-founded decisions about which properties should be made available for community uses, on what terms, and to whom.
