If we did get the chance to buy it, where would the money come from?

moneyENG

What the rules say

The Community Ownership Fund is now closed. There will be no further application windows on the COF programme.

legislation.gov.uk — Community Ownership Fund Round 4: how to express your interest in applying - GOV.UK, last updated 23 December 2024

The page quoted here is not watched yet, so this page cannot say whether it has changed.

Not from the fund that used to do this. The Community Ownership Fund is closed and GOV.UK say there will be no further rounds. The same page says what the government is doing instead, and it is a change in the law rather than a replacement fund - strengthening the right to buy assets of community value, which is the very thing that has not commenced. So for the moment there is a gap: the money has gone and the right has not arrived. What community groups are actually using is a mixture - community share offers, the National Lottery Community Fund, council asset transfer at a discount, and borrowing against the building itself.

ENGLAND, although the fund itself operated UK-wide while it was open. The scope of an answer is where its advice applies, not where its subject once did: everything a reader can act on here - council asset transfer, and the measures GOV.UK describe as replacing the fund - is England-only. Readers in Scotland and Wales should see the last answer.

What to do

1. Stop looking for the Community Ownership Fund. GOV.UK say so on its own application page.
2. If the building belongs to your council, ask about community asset transfer before looking for a grant. Councils can transfer at less than market value and many publish a policy.
3. Look at a community share offer. It is the route most used for pubs and it raises money from the people who will use the building.
4. Check GOV.UK again before writing any bid. A closed fund is a fact today and governments announce new ones.