The ground is shifting: What incoming ACV changes mean for the leisure sector
A changing landscape for community assets
For surveyors active in the leisure sector and those managing pub estates at local, regional and national level, the Asset of Community Value regime has long been a factor to navigate. That complexity is about to increase considerably and the campaign infrastructure to exploit the new regime is already being put in place.
A new Act: the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, sponsored by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, has received Royal Assent. It has not yet been brought into force, but when it is, it will materially change the balance of power between property owners and community groups. Crucially, the timing of commencement is itself uncertain, for reasons that may go to the heart of the government's current political position on community ownership.
How the regime currently works
The ACV regime, introduced under the Localism Act 2011, allows community groups to nominate assets for listing by the local council. Once listed, any proposed relevant disposal triggers a six week moratorium during which community groups can express an interest in bidding. If a group does so, the moratorium extends to a period of 6 months in total: enough to frustrate many, but not all, sales of listed property with vacant possession.
Critically, the regime has never conferred a right of first refusal. The owner remains free to sell to whoever they choose — the moratorium simply delays the process.
That is about to change.
What the new Act introduces
First, the moratorium period is extended from six months to twelve months, doubling the period during which a relevant disposal cannot be completed. In a sector where cash flow and portfolio rationalisation depend on transactional certainty, this is a material increase in uncertainty.
Second, during that extended moratorium a community interest group will have a right of first refusal. This is a substantive shift, for the first time, the regime moves beyond delay into something closer to a genuine pre-emption right, operating at market value with an independent valuation mechanism for disputes.
For many community groups, raising the finance to exercise the right within the moratorium will remain a significant practical obstacle. But the existence of the right will affect how buyers price transactions and view listed assets. The incoming chilling effect on values and transactional appetite should not be underestimated.
A broadening scope: economic value and sporting assets
The regime is also broadening in terms of the assets it captures. Property of economic value is now within scope, a pub struggling as a going concern may nonetheless qualify for listing if it remains economically significant to the surrounding area.
Also relevant to the leisure sector is the introduction of sporting assets as a distinct class. Assets with sporting value will remain on the list of ACVs indefinitely.
The practical implications are considerable. A pub with a bowling green may find that the bowling green independently attracts listing and its associated extended protections, a layer of complexity that would not have arisen under the existing regime. The same logic could apply to pubs with skittle alleys, petanque terrains, to golf course clubhouses and sports and social clubs.
The campaign infrastructure is mobilising
The incoming Act does not arrive in isolation. The Campaign for Real Ale, the single most significant driver of pub nominations, has been actively equipping its local branches with improved nomination tools, detailed checklists, template forms and guidance on maximising the prospects of a successful nomination, alongside specific advice on dealing with resistant local authorities. A dedicated central resource now supports branches through the process.
CAMRA has also re-established the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pubs with cross-party representation and is pressing ministers on other protective measures alongside the ACV agenda. The political environment for further strengthening of community rights is more favourable than at any point since the Localism Act 2011 was first introduced by the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition.
The convergence is the point: stronger legislation, better resourced and supported nominations and sustained political pressure, all arriving together.
The political dimension: a potentially invidious position
The political context surrounding commencement deserves particular attention, because it has direct implications for transaction timing.
Angela Rayner's personal sponsorship of the Act means its success or failure is reputationally linked to her specifically. Yet her government simultaneously closed the Community Ownership Fund, the primary mechanism by which community groups could part-finance the acquisition of local assets, having allocated only £135 million of its £150 million budget, citing public finance constraints.
The contradiction has not gone unnoticed. CAMRA wrote directly to Rayner stating that the new right of first refusal would be of "limited practical use without a programme and funding stream specifically for community ownership of pubs" and calling for a dedicated successor fund. That letter is a matter of public record.
This places the present government in a genuinely invidious position. Commencing the Act without successor funding invites immediate, well-evidenced criticism, the government strengthening community rights in law while having removed part of the financial infrastructure to exercise them in practice. Not commencing leaves a flagship piece of legislation sitting at least partially dormant on the statute book, whilst property owners take the brunt of its effects.
The political logic points toward a funding announcement preceding or concurrent with commencement. If this reading is correct, commencement could be less imminent than some in the sector assume and the window under the existing regime, with its six month moratorium and no right of first refusal, may be longer than the current timetable suggests. That window is uncertain in duration and will close without notice.
The particular challenge for pub estate owners
For regional breweries and large pub owning businesses, the incoming changes create a specific and pressing problem. Pubs at the periphery of an estate, those that have underperformed or are no longer viable as licensed premises, are regularly brought to market to fund investment elsewhere. The new Act makes that process more uncertain, potentially significantly longer and more legally complex.
The tension is a real one. Many assets that communities fight hardest to protect are failing not because no one cares, but because the economics no longer work. Communities are often asset rich but cash poor. The incoming regime improves their legal position without resolving the underlying financial reality but substantially increases the burden on owners in the meantime. And if successor funding does materialise, the right of first refusal will likely begin to bite in a meaningful number of cases (there are now at least 278 community operated pubs).
Councils will also face greater demands, managing nominations, administering the extended moratorium, monitoring sale processes and defending compensation claims. Variable council administration of the existing regime has already generated significant litigation. That may increase considerably.
A call to action
The political dynamics around commencement mean the timing of the new regime remains genuinely uncertain. But the direction of travel is clear and the campaigns are already operational. Owners, surveyors and estate managers should be taking action now to oppose nominations and listing more vigorously.
Audit your exposure: Identify which assets are nominated, listed, or vulnerable to nomination, including under the expanded sporting assets class, where exposure may be wider than previously assumed.
Scrutinise nominations rigorously: With CAMRA actively improving nomination quality at branch level, the bar for successful challenge is rising. Early and specialist engagement is more important, not less.
Factor ACV risk into due diligence and valuation: ACV status and nomination risk should be standard elements of leisure sector due diligence, if not already, with implications reflected in valuations and transaction timelines.
Understand how councils think and decide: There is considerable variation in how councils approach nominations and the moratorium process. Understanding the decision-making culture of the relevant authority and how to engage with it effectively, can make a material difference to outcomes.
Act before commencement: The political dynamics suggest a window may exist under the existing regime that is longer than it first appears. For assets where disposal is under active consideration, it may be sensible to bring decisions forward.
Whether the right of first refusal ultimately proves transformative or merely procedural may depend largely on whether the government resolves the contradiction between its legislative ambition and its financial decisions. That question will define the real impact of the incoming regime on the leisure sector. For owners and their advisers, the answer is not yet known but the risk of waiting for it is.
How we can help
Partner Mark Brown in our Real Estate team has acted on over 400 nominated or listed properties and has extensive experience before both local councils and the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal in ACV matters.
He would welcome discussion on how these changes may affect your specific position.
If you have any questions regarding the contents of this legal article and the upcoming ACV changes, please get in touch with Mark or another member of our Real Estate team.
The content of this page is a summary of the law in force at the date of publication and is not exhaustive, nor does it contain definitive advice. Specialist legal advice should be sought in relation to any queries that may arise.
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