Keep It in the Community

Keep It in the Community (KIITC) is an online database of all community assets in England, such as pubs, shops and land, that have been nominated or registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

First set up by mySociety, Keep It in the Community is now hosted by Plunkett UK – one of the organisations involved in its original conception. The information on KIITC is sourced annually from every council in England (last updated Summer 2022) and gives members of the public the ability to update information about assets in their area. There is data relating to 8,400 assets on Keep It in the Community register, of which 2,700 have an active ACV registration.

Plunkett has been able to keep this valuable resource available for your use thanks to funding from Power to Change, and through working in partnership with Locality and the Institute of Community Studies.

Visit the ‘Keep it in the Community’ website

A building or space registered as an Asset of Community Value with a local council is protected under the Community Right to Bid. If a registered asset comes up for sale, the community will have six months to put in an offer to buy it.

Although the Community Right to Bid buys time for the community to try to take ownership of their asset, the offer is still reliant on there being a willing seller.

Data collected from KIITC will inform our work to campaign for the reform the Community Right to Bid into a Right to Buy, with a right to first refusal for the community on the asset. Reform is needed now more than ever, with assets increasingly coming up for sale for development in the economic fallout from the pandemic, leaving neighbourhoods at risk of losing vital social services. Without adequate legal protection assets are still at risk of being lost.

To find out more about ACVs and process for registering an asset in your local area, visit the MyCommunity website.

Our KIITC ambition

In Plunkett UK’s 2026 strategy we have an ambition to grow the community-ownership sector by 20% over the next 5 years. A starting point for many projects in England will be registering Assets of Community Value in their local area.

To help people across the country take their first steps towards community-ownership, Keep it in the Community  provides access to information about all ACVs in their local area. Although individual ACV records are available through individual councils, the purpose of Keep it in the Community  is to offer a single point of access showing all ACVs across the country.

Through putting all of this information in one place, along with access to helpful guidance and support we want local residents and community groups to feel confident and informed about community-ownership, when they are registering an ACV and know what steps to take when the asset becomes available for sale.

When a Community Right to Bid is triggered, we want you to be prepared and ready to buy the assets that matter to your community.

How to use KIITC

You can view, add or update information about ACVs in your local area to:

  • Help people to find protected assets in their local area
  • Connect communities across England that are trying to save their assets
  • Link people to advice on how to protect their assets by nominating them as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) with your local council
  • Discover the support available to transform underused assets into thriving community businesses
  • Help us to gather data from the directory to support communities by calling for the reform of the Community Right to Bid

KIITC: Council Access Service

As part of our long-term strategy for Keep it in the Community, Plunkett is looking to work with councils to provide data hosting, asset mapping and training opportunities to promote community-ownership opportunities in a council area. Plunkett is offering a subscription service which includes bespok resource development and enhanced access to Plunkett’s dedicated support for community-ownership projects.

The subscription service is available in the following tiers:

Package 1 – Basic

  • Access to the Keep it in the Community council portal
  • Up-to-date asset listings for your council area
  • The use of the KIITC platform as a hosting space for your ACV data
  • Inclusion of your council assets in the KIITC map

Package 2 – Mid-level

  • Access to everything included in the basic package
  • Further support for local groups through 4 webinars per year, to promote community-ownership in the local context with a focus on your authority area

Package 3 – Comprehensive

  • Access to everything included in the basic and mid-level packages
  • A dedicated community-ownership advisory service for residents and groups in your authority areaå

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the subscriptions, or arrange a demo of the platform please contact our Head of Policy, Chris Cowcher via data@plunkett.co.uk or 01993 630022.