Councillors decide on 29 September whether community groups get 12 months, not six, to buy a listed pub. Sawbridgeworth Library joined the register in May.

Community groups in East Herts are set to get a full year to buy a local pub, shop or hall, instead of six months. Councillors are asked to agree the change on Tuesday 29 September.

The proposal goes to the council’s Audit and Governance Committee at 7pm, in a report by Councillor Carl Brittain, the Executive Member for Financial Sustainability. Members are asked to agree three changes to how East Herts handles Assets of Community Value:

  • the moratorium on a sale rises from six months to twelve
  • “economic wellbeing” is added as a reason a building can qualify
  • the definition of recent use is no longer capped at five years

The council is not waiting for the law to catch up. It is moving ahead of secondary legislation that has not been written yet.

The law that prompted it

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act received royal assent on 29 April 2026. The report sets out what it does to the community asset regime.

Now Under the Act
How long a listing lasts 5 years 10 years
Maximum moratorium on a sale 6 months 12 months
What the group gets A right to bid A right to buy
Qualifying benefit Social wellbeing Social or economic wellbeing
Past use Recent use only Use “at a time in the past”

The right to buy is the substantial change. A right to bid gave a community group time to make an offer on the open market, which the owner could simply refuse. The Act turns that into a statutory right of first refusal. Where the two sides disagree on price, the report says the figure will be “the open market value of the asset as determined by an independent valuer”.

The Act also creates a new category, the Sporting Asset of Community Value. A sports ground that qualifies is added automatically, without anyone nominating it, and it stays listed indefinitely.

That matters here. The council’s own Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy, adopted in November 2025, counted in East Herts:

  • 184 football pitches
  • 135 tennis and padel courts
  • 81 netball pitches
  • 53 rugby union pitches
  • 46 cricket pitches
  • 13 lawn bowls greens

None of the new provisions are in force. The report says they will be phased in by regulations, “later in 2026 or into 2027”.

Comparison panel: listings rise from five years to ten, the moratorium from six months to twelve, and a right to bid becomes a right to buy
What the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 changes, as set out in the council's report.

What is happening on the register right now

The report lists every change in the past 12 months. Several have live dates:

  • Sawbridgeworth Library was added to the register on 29 May 2026
  • The Cock Inn, Stocking Pelham: the managing agent gave notice to sell on 1 April, the nominating group triggered the moratorium, and it ends 31 October
  • The Bakers Arms, Bayford: talks about community ownership or a change of tenancy have not succeeded, and the notice of intention to sell was re-issued on 4 September
  • The Three Tuns, Great Hormead: the owners gave notice to sell on 31 July, and the expression of interest period expired on 10 September
  • The Grandison, Bramfield: a nomination arrived on 2 September
  • Much Hadham allotments car park: nominated in May, stalled because the group cannot identify who owns the title
  • The Bull Inn, Much Hadham: the boundary was adjusted in February to cover the pub itself rather than the grounds and car park

The published register has not yet been updated to show the library.

Bishop’s Stortford has one listed asset, and the clock ran out on it

The town appears once on the register. The United Reformed Church Hall on Water Lane, CM23 2JZ, was listed on 13 September 2023 after a nomination by the Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation. It expires on 13 September 2028.

Its full moratorium ended on 19 March 2024 with no offer received.

That is the pattern across the district, and it is the reason the timings are being changed. The register records the same outcome at Millennium Wood in Little Hadham, the White Horse at Wareside, the Countryman Inn at Chipping and the Bell Inn at Benington: the window opened, and it closed again with no expression of interest or no offer.

The hall itself is a separate story. East Herts is working on transferring it to a community company, and we covered the £22,500 of legal fees approved in September.

What it means for you

  • A listing does not stop a sale. It delays one, and it gives a community group a chance to raise money. The owner is not currently obliged to accept a community bid.
  • Nominations come from groups, not individuals. The report names parish councils and constituted local voluntary and community organisations.
  • Nominations go to customer.services@eastherts.gov.uk, using the council’s nomination form. A panel date is usually set within four to six weeks of the nomination.
  • The owner gets 28 days to appeal a listing, first internally and then to the first-tier tribunal. Two owners have gone that far, over the Rose and Crown at Aston and the Cock Inn at Stocking Pelham. The tribunal backed the council both times.
  • If you want the district’s sports grounds protected, the report says the council cannot act until the government publishes guidance on what counts as a sporting asset.

The committee meets at 7pm on Tuesday 29 September. For planning decisions across the district, see our Bishop’s Stortford planning news page.

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