From community of interest to community of geography – a practical guide

Over 500 geographic communities in Scotland own land or buildings. These communities own a huge range of assets from village halls and crofting estates, forests and fisheries to shops and spaceports.

In Scotland in 2025, what constitutes ‘community landownership’ is well established: ownership of land and/or assets by a community body that is community controlled with open membership to anyone living in a defined geographic community. The geographic area should be small enough in size for meaningful community engagement. Some rights and funding such as Community Right to Buy and the Scottish Land Fund are only available to geographic communities.

A number of community landowners were communities of interest when they started their ownership journey. By this, we usually mean a group where membership is aimed at people with a specific interest (like a men’s shed, a community growing initiative or an arts centre). Changing to a community of geography definitely isn’t for every group but a number of organisations have made this transition very successfully.

Making the transition is both a technical process around governance structures and, just as importantly, it is an exercise in exploring what it means to have open democratic control. It requires patience, transparency and so much community engagement!

In this event, we will explore what the process looks like for a community wishing to undergo this change. We will then hear from Oakbank Community Inn Sandbank who have made the change from interest to geography. Finally, there will be time for attendees to ask questions.