About

This website is part of the BCC Community Asset Transfer development Programme funded by AWM, which began in January 2009 and ran through until March 2010.

We are mainly using it to track the progress of two Asset Transfer projects in Birmingham: Norton Hall Children and Family Centre and Perry Common Community Hall.

Asset Transfer has been around for many years and much work has been done on what is good asset transfer.

This time we wanted to seek consistent ways to make the process work for Birmingham City Council and local community groups.  From the very beginning the development programme also focused on more than just the bricks and mortar – it looked at how you place a value on community oprganisation and how we can support them to succeed in a way government might not.

So here you will also find contributions from a wide range of people who are reflecting on what they have learnt about the best way to transfer a building from a local authority to a community group.

The programme funding:

Began as part of round 1 of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s  National Demonstration Advancing Assets Programme following the Quirk Review in 2007.

In 2008 Advantage West Midlands  stepped in to help with a grant to allow us to continue to explore the most effective ways to manage Community Asset Transfer.  They were interested in a learning programme to see how far CAT can encourage economic development.

Each  building received £250,000 capital funding for construction work.  Half of the funding for the Perry Common building work was from Witton Lodge Community Association.  A further £270,000 from AWM supported the development and learning work and helped get the capital projects ready.